BX  8795  ,P4  N8  1923 
Noyes,  John  Humphrey,  1811- 

Religious  experience  of  John 

_ i _ m _  n _ _ jy _ t  _ c. 


rr _ 


\ 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
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RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE  OF 
JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  •  BOSTON  •  CHICAGO  •  DALLAS 
ATLANTA  •  SAN  FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited 

LONDON  ■  BOMBAY  •  CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OP  CANADA,  Lm 

TORONTO 


RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE 

of  i/ 

JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

Founder  of  the  Oneida  Community 

HIT 

With  s  even teen 
Illustrations 


Compiled  and  Edited  by 


GEORGE  WALLINGFORD  NOYES 


JBAo  gorfe 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

1923 

All  rights  reserved 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 


Copyright,  1923, 

By  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  printed.  Published  April,  1923. 


FERRIS  PRINTING  COMPANY 
NEW  YORK 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES,  1867 


. 


4 


PREFACE 

The  editor  at  first  designed  to  make  this  book  strictly 
a  compilation  of  original  documents.  But  after  the 
work  was  complete  he  yielded  to  the  advice  of  friends 
as  well  as  the  evident  logic  of  the  case,  and  decided  to 
make  use  of  the  semi-narrative  form  of  presentation. 
The  chief  advantages  derived  from  this  form  are,  that 
it  makes  possible  a  better  balancing  of  the  materials 
in  accordance  with  historical  value,  and  that  it  pro¬ 
vides  for  the  introduction  of  connecting  links  which 
are  needed  to  indicate  clearly  the  sequence  of  events. 
In  one  other  respect  the  execution  of  the  work  has 
deviated  from  the  original  plan.  The  intention  had 
been  to  present  all  documents  precisely  as  written. 
But  since  many  of  the  documents  consisted  of  imper¬ 
fect  reports  of  extemporaneous  talks,  it  was  soon  seen 
that  some  condensing  and  rearranging  would  be  highly 
desirable.  And  in  fact  by  his  own  explicit  direction 
Noyes’s  writings  and  talks  were  constantly  during  his 
lifetime  undergoing  revision  at  the  hands  of  his  liter¬ 
ary  associates.  The  editor  has,  therefore,  allowed 
himself  considerable  liberty  as  reviser.  He  has,  of 
course,  scrupulously  avoided  any  alteration  of  the 
sense.  His  aim  throughout  in  both  these  changes  of 
plan  has  been  to  put  the  reader  in  possession  of  the 
essential  thought  or  fact  in  the  fewest  possible  words 

v 


J 


VI 


PREFACE 


and  with  the  least  possible  obscuration  from  the  liter¬ 
ary  medium. 

Ithaca,  New  York. 

April  25,  1 Q22 


INTRODUCTION 


In  the  center  of  New  York  State  lies  a  region,  rich 
in  Indian  names  and  legends,  where  to  the  south  ex¬ 
tends  a  succession  of  deep  wooded  valleys  closed  in  the 
distance  by  the  foothills  of  the  Allegheny  Plateau,  and 
to  the  north  the  broad  basin  of  Oneida  Lake  bordered 
on  its  farther  side  by  the  blue  rim  of  the  Adirondacks. 

[ere  in  the  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  was 
the  scene  of  a  remarkable  sociological  experiment,  the 
Oneida  Community. 

j 

The  Oneida  Community  was  a  product  of  the  great 
religious  revival  which  swept  over  America  in  the 
years  1830-1834.  Its  founder,  John  Humphrey  Noyes, 
and  nearly  all  of  his  original  associates  were  converts 
of  that  revival.  After  beating  against  the  confines  of 
Calvinistic  piety  for  several  years,  the  religious  im¬ 
pulse  of  these  earnest  people  burst  forth  at  last  in  an 
attempt  to  attain  salvation  from  sin  in  this  world. 
The  experience  of  the  “Perfectionists,”  as  they  were 
called,  gradually  brought  them  to  the  conviction  that 
salvation  from  sin,  though  possible  under  the  condi¬ 
tions  of  ordinary  society,  must  have  for  its  full  ob¬ 
jective  development  a  reconstructed  society.  They, 
therefore,  in  1838  formed  the  nucleus  of  a  Com¬ 
munity  at  Putney,  Vermont. 

The  purpose  of  this  book  is  to  recount  the  per- 


VI 11 


INTRODUCTION 


sonal  experiences  which  led  to  the  formation  of  the 
Putney  Community.  A  future  book,  it  is  hoped,  after 
tracing  the  history  of  the  Putney  Community,  will  fol¬ 
low  Noyes  and  his  fellow-Perfectionists  to  their  final 
home  at  Oneida,  New  York,  and  tell  the  story  of  their 
unique,  daring,  dramatic  experiment  in  “Bible  Com¬ 
munism.” 


CONTENTS 


Preface. 

Introduction. 

Contents. 

Illustrations. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Ancestry  .  1 

II.  Boyhood  and  Early  Youth.  1811- 

1828  .  8 

III.  Later  College  Life.  1829-1830  .  .  18 

IV.  Law  Studies.  1830-1831  26 

V.  Conversion  to  Religion.  Septem¬ 
ber  1831 . 32 

VI.  Life  at  Andover.  1831-1832  ....  42 

VII.  Theological  Course  at  New  Haven. 

1832-1834  58 

VIII.  The  Second  Coming  of  Christ  .  .  69 

IX.  Theory  of  Salvation  from  Sin. 

1834 .  89 

X.  Transition  to  Holiness.  February 

1834 .  100 

XI.  Beginnings  of  New  Haven  Perfec¬ 
tionism.  February-May  1834  .  .  112 
XII.  Gathering  Clouds.  May  1834  .  .  .  126 

XIII.  The  Storm.  May-June  1834  ....  136 

XIV.  The  Wreckage.  June-July  1834  .  .  153 


XV.  A  New  Start.  .June  1834-January 

1835  .  158 

ix 


J 


X 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

XVI.  Rupture  of  Family  Ties.  October- 

December  1835  .  170 

XVII.  Security  and  Freedom  from  Law  .  .  178 

XVIII.  New  York  Perfectionism . 186 

XIX.  Antinomianism  . 195 

XX.  Preaching  r  ampaign  at  Putney. 

Marcti-April  1835  211 

XXL  Conflict  with  Charles  H.  Weld. 

May  1835  222 

XXII.  Renewed  Suspicions.  June-July 

1835  .  225 

XXIII.  An  Interval  of  Peace.  Septem¬ 
ber  1835  .  232 

XXIV.  Darkness  and  Trial.  October  1835- 

March  1836  241 

XXV.  Efforts  at  Rehabilitation.  Feb¬ 
ruary- September  1836  249 


XXVI.  Perfectionism  in  Putney  and  Vi¬ 
cinity,  July  1835-November  1836  .  258 
XXVII.  Glimpses  of  the  Noyes  Family. 

April  1835-November  1836  .  .  .  272 


XXVIII.  Re-interpretation  of  Prophecy. 

August-September  1836  ....  287 

XXIX.  Repudiation  of  Former  Leaders. 

September  1836-April  1837  .  .  .  292 

XXX.  Noyes  Asserts  His  Divine  Com¬ 
mission.  January  1837  .  305 

XXXI.  Commencement  of  the  Putney 
Bible  School.  November  1836- 

June  1837  310 

XXXII.  Conversion  of  Joanna.  November 

1836-June  1838  .  319 


CONTENTS 


xi 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

XNXIII.  Rapprochement  Between  Noyes  and 
the  Reform  Leaders.  March- 

October  1837  .  328 

XXXIV.  Establishment  of  “The  Witness.’’ 

August-September  1837  ....  339 

XXXV.  Relations  with  Abigail  Merwin  .  351 
XXXVI.  Reception  of  “The  Witness.”  Au- 

gust-October  1837  358 

XXXVII.  Final  Delimitation  of  Salvation 

from  Sin  . 369 

XXXVIII.  The  Doctrine  of  Perfection  in 

Christian  History . 384 

XXXIX.  General  View  of  Noyes’s  Theology  396 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING 

PAGE 

John  Humphrey  Noyes,  1867  .  .  .  Frontispiece 


John  Noyes .  4 

Polly  (Hayes)  Noyes .  6 

House  at  Brattleboro,  Vermont,  Where  J.  H. 

Noyes  Was  Born .  8 

Mary  (Noyes)  Mead . 26 

J.  H.  Noyes,  About  1840  .  90 

Horatio  S.  Noyes . 154 

Locust  Grove . 212 

J.  H.  Noyes,  1878,  Front . 218 

Harriet  (Noyes)  Skinner . 228 

J.  IT  Noyes,  About  1851  244 

Elizabeth  (Noyes)  Ransom . 284 

Charlotte  (Noyes)  Miller . 312 

George  W.  Noyes . 318 

Joanna  (Noyes)  Hayes . 328 

J.  H.  Noyes,  1878,  Profile . 368 

Oneida  Community  Mansion,  1878  .  410 


xm 


RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE  OF 
JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


( 


\ 


RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE  OF 
JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


CHAPTER  I 

ANCESTRY 

The  Noyes  family,  if  tradition  is  correct,  descends 
from  William  Des  Noyers,  mentioned  in  “Domesday 
Book”  as  one  of  the  barons  who  accompanied  William 
the  Conqueror  to  England  in  io 66  A.  D. 

The  first  ancestor  in  modern  times  of  whom  we 
have  definite  information  was  William  Noyes,  who 
was  rector  of  Choulderton,  Wiltshire,  England,  from 
1 585  to  1616.  The  struggle  between  the  Stuarts  and 
the  Puritans  was  then  in  progress,  and  William  Noyes 
on  account  of  dissenting  religious  views  was  at  one 
time  deprived  of  his  lands.  In  the  following  genera¬ 
tion  the  struggle  became  more  acute,  and  his  two  sons, 
Nicholas  and  James,  finally  decided  to  emigrate  to 
New  England.  Taking  passage  in  the  Mary  and  John, 
which  sailed  from  England  March  24,  1633,  they 
arrived  at  the  banks  of  the  Mystic  River  in  Massa¬ 
chusetts.  They  settled  first  at  Medford,  and  in  1635 
moved  to  Newbury,  Massachusetts.  From  this  center 
their  descendants  spread  over  the  northern  and  western 
parts  of  the  United  States  and  into*  Canada. 

In  1740  Joseph  Noyes,  grandson  of  Nicholas  and  a 

1 


2 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


shipbuilder  by  trade,  moved  to  Atkinson,  Massachu¬ 
setts,  a  small  town  fifteen  miles  west  of  Newbury. 
Here  Joseph  and  his  son  Humphrey  led  the  life  of 
plain,  hard-working  pioneers. 

John  Noyes,  son  of  Humphrey,  and  father  of  the 
subject  of  this  history,  was  born  at  Atkinson  in  1764. 
Making  the  most  of  his  small  opportunities  for  edu¬ 
cation,  he  fitted  himself  for  the  teaching  profession. 
The  ten  years  following  his  seventeenth  birthday  he 
spent  in  teaching  village  schools,  and  meanwhile  he 
prepared  himself  for  college.  At  twenty-seven  he 
entered  Dartmouth  College,  graduating  with  honor  in 
the  class  of  1795.  After  graduation  he  taught  for  two 
years  in  an  academy.  Then  for  two  years  he  was  a 
tutor  at  Dartmouth,  where  he  numbered  among  his 
pupils  Daniel  Webster.*  After  a  brief  trial  of  the 
ministry,  for  which  he  had  prepared  himself  while 
tutor,  his  health  failing  he  decided  to  go  into  active 
business.  He  therefore  engaged  as  clerk  in  the  store 
of  a  Mr.  Hale  in  Brattleboro,  Vermont.  This  was 
in  April  1800,  when  Mr.  Noyes  was  thirty-six  years 
old. 

At  this  point  the  thread  of  his  life  began  to  interweave 
with  that  of  Polly  Hayes.  She  was  descended  from 
George  Hayes,  who  came  to  America  from  Scotland 
in  1682,  and  settled  first  at  Windsor  and  afterward  at 
Simsbury,  Connecticut.  Her  father,  Rutherford  Hayes, 
was  born  at  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  but  went  to 

*  J.  H.  Noyes  recalls  that,  when  he  was  a  student  at  Dart¬ 
mouth,  he  was  once  introduced  to  Mr.  Webster,  who  had  re¬ 
turned  to  visit  the  college.  As  Mr.  Webster  grasped  his  hand, 
he  said  earnestly:  “Young  man,  I  wish  I  could  do  as  much 
for  you  as  your  father  did  for  me." 


HOUSE  AT  BRATTLEBORO,  VERMONT,  WHERE  NOYES  WAS  BORN 


ANCESTRY 


3 


Vermont  in  the  early  settlement  of  the  State,  and  es¬ 
tablished  a  home  at  Brattleboro.  Polly  was  the  oldest 
of  his  eleven  children,  one  of  her  brothers,  Rutherford 
Hayes  2d,  being  the  father  of  Rutherford  B.  Hayes, 
President  of  the  United  States  1877-81. 

Polly’s  mother  was  Chloe  Smith,  a  woman  of  signal 
energy  and  strength  of  character,  of  whom  William 
Dean  Howells  in  his  Life  of  Rutherford  B.  Hayes 
says : 

“Above  all  and  first  of  all  she  was  deeply  religious, 
after  the  fashion  of  the  days  that  we  now  think  so 
grim.  With  a  devotion  almost  as  deep  she  dedicated 
her  days  to  incessant  work,  and  her  toil  often  saved  the 
spirit  that  faltered  in  its  religious  gloom.  .  .  .  The 
reminiscence  of  a  granddaughter,  at  once  touching  and 
amusing,  gives  the  color  of  the  Puritanism  which 
steeped  in  fear  and  misgiving  the  indulgence  of  such 
love  of  beauty  as  she  permitted  herself.  T  spoke  of 
her  passion  for  worsted  work.  I  have  heard  her  say 
that  Saturday  afternoon  she  put  it  all  into  her  work- 
basket,  and  pushed  it  under  the  bed  as  far  as  she 
could;  then  taking  out  her  prosy  knitting-work,  she 
tried  to  get  it  all  out  of  her  mind  for  Sunday!’  Yet 
she  was  a  true  artist  in  this  passion;  her  devices  in 
worsted  were  her  greatest  delight,  and  she  studied  them 
from  nature,  going  into  her  garden  and  copying  the  leaf 
or  flower  she  meant  to  embroider.  She  had  an  almost 
equal  passion  for  flowers.  ...  In  a  sketch  of  family 
history  with  which  she  prefaces  her  journals,  she 
laments  with  a  simple  pathos  her  possible  error  in  set¬ 
ting  work  and  duty  before  some  other  things.  ‘My 
husband  .  .  .  would  sometimes  say,  The  horse  is 
standing  in  the  barn,  doing  nothing.  We  will  go  and 


4  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

ride.  But  I  would  say,  I  can’t  leave  my  work.  So 
he  would  not  go,  or  go  alone.  Oh,  now  I  would  say 
to  every  woman  that  has  a  good  husband,  Enjoy  them 
while  they  are  spared  to  you,  or  it  will  grieve  you  to 
the  heart  when  it  is  too  late — when  all  is  over !  .  .  . 
The  faded  pages,  recording  so  vividly  a  type  of  high 
character  which  has  passed  away  with  the  changing 
order  of  things,  are  of  almost  unique  interest.  .  .  . 
Work,  faith,  duty,  self-sacrifice,  continual  self-abase¬ 
ment  in  the  presence  of  the  divine  perfection,  are  the 
ideal  of  life  which  they  embody — the  old  New  Eng¬ 
land  ideal.  It  was  a  stern  and  unlovely  thing  often  in 
its  realization;  it  must  have  made  gloomy  weeks  and 
terrible  sabbaths;  but  out  of  the  true  stuff  it  shaped 
character  of  unsurpassable  uprightness  and  strength.” 

Polly,  the  oldest  daughter  of  Rutherford  Hayes 
and  Chloe  Smith,  a  girl  of  nineteen,  after  spending 
the  winter  with  her  relatives  in  New  Haven  returned 
in  May  1800  to  her  home  in  Brattleboro.  At  this 
time  Mr.  Noyes  had  just  gone  into  business,  and  Polly 
found  him  boarding  with  her  father.  Soon  an  inti¬ 
macy  sprang  up  between  them,  which  Polly  thus  de¬ 
scribes:  “He  was  nearly  twice  as  old  as  I.  He  had 
always  been  devoted  to  study,  and  had  acquired  a  vast 
amount  of  information  on  almost  all  subjects — mor¬ 
ality,  philosophy  and  science.  He  was  so  familiar 
with  these  high  matters,  and  so  fond  of  communicat¬ 
ing,  that  I  was  delighted  to  hear  him  talk;  and  he 
found  in  me  just  that  kind  of  attention  that  would 
make  us  never  tired  of  being  together.” 

“It  was  in  fact,”  says  J.  H.  Noyes,  “the  courtship 
of  Othello  and  Desdemona  over  again.  But  the  course 


JOHN  NOYES 


ANCESTRY 


5 


of  true  love,  as  usual,  did  not  run  smooth.  Polly  was 
entangled  in  another  engagement,  from  which  her 
conscience  refused  to  set  her  free;  and  Mr.  Noyes, 
though  forward  in  learned  discourse,  was  extremely 
shy  in  all  matters  of  the  heart.  Indeed  he  was  nearly 
as  attentive  to  Polly’s  mother,  who  was  only  one  year 
older  than  he,  as  to  Polly  herself.  So  the  courtship 
languished  for  three  years.  At  last  Polly’s  other 
suitor  adjusted  his  mind  to  the  change  in  her  feelings,  , 
and  Mr.  Noyes’s  prudential  hesitation  was  overcome 
by  Polly’s  youthful  buoyancy  and  irrepressibility. 
When  they  were  married  in  1804  he  had  reached  the 
ripe  age  of  forty,  while  she  was  only  twenty-three.” 

Meanwhile  Mr.  Noyes’s  business  venture  was  highly 
successful.  Before  the  end  of  the  year  1800  he  was 
head  of  the  firm  of  “Noyes  &  Mann,”  which  soon  had 
branches  in  four  different  towns  with  Brattleboro  as 
headquarters.  The  country  about  Brattleboro  was 
new,  and  the  farmers  in  clearing  their  lands  made  vast 
quantities  of  wood  ashes.  Noyes  &  Mann  gave  goods 
in  exchange  for  ashes,  which  they  made  into  pot  and 
pearl  ashes,  and  sold  at  a  large  profit.  Eventually 
Rutherford  Hayes  became  a  partner,  and  the  firm 
name  was  changed  to  “Noyes,  Mann  &  Playes.” 

As  a  result  of  his  business  activities  Mr.  Noyes 
formed  a  wide  acquaintance  in  southern  Vermont,  and 
his  personal  qualities  brought  him  popularity.  This 
led  him  into  the  field  of  politics.  In  1811  he  was 
elected  Representative  of  Brattleboro  in  the  Vermont 
Legislature;  and  in  1815,  at  the  close  of  the  war  with 
England,  he  was  sent  to  Washington  for  two  years  as 
a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 


6 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


During  a  mercantile  career  of  twenty  years  Mr. 
Noyes  acquired  what  he  considered  a  competence  ;  and 
in  pursuance  of  a  long-cherished  plan  he  retired  from 
business,  and  devoted  the  remainder  of  his  life  to  the 
education  of  his  eight  children. 

In  a  memoir  written  in  1877  J.  H.  Noyes  describes 
his  father  as  primarily  a  teacher  throughout  his  career. 
When  at  the  age  of  thirty-six  he  went  into  business, 
it  might  be  thought  that  his  teaching  days  were  over. 
“But,”  says  J.  H.  Noyes,  “my  opinion  is  that  his  teach¬ 
ing  days  just  commenced  when  he  descended  from  the 
pulpit  and  went  into  social  and  commercial  life,  be¬ 
cause  there  he  found  his  natural  sphere.  He  was  too 
bashful  for  the  pulpit,  and  I  cannot  think  that  he  was 
at  ease  as  a  teacher  in  the  school,  the  academy  or  the 
college;  but  in  the  family  circle  and  in  the  highways 
and  by-ways  of  business  he  was  a  born  Solomon  with 
a  modern  college  education  superadded.  I  have  never 
seen  his  equal  in  conversational  teaching.  He  charmed 
everybody  with  his  practical  wisdom  and  his  genial 
stories.  I  can  truly  say  that  friendly  discussions  with 
him  did  more  to  make  me  a  thinker  than  all  the  dis¬ 
cipline  of  the  schools  and  colleges.” 

Mr.  Noyes,  despite  his  year  in  the  pulpit,  was  not 
in  later  life  a  professor  of  religion.  He  understood 
Hebrew,  felt  great  respect  for  the  Bible  and  Christian¬ 
ity,  and  was  a  vigorous  moralist ;  but  his  philosophical 
cast  of  mind  held  him  back  from  committing  himself 
to  any  particular  religious  dogma  or  organization. 

Mrs.  Noyes,  on  the  other  hand,  from  early  child¬ 
hood  manifested  a  high  degree  of  religious  sensibility. 
She  was  religiously  brought  up,  and  soon  after  her 


POLLY  (HAYES)  NOYES 


{ 

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I 

i 

i 


! 


i 

i 

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t 


’  "'S' 


* 


ANCESTRY 


7 


marriage  joined  the  Congregational  Church.  Vital, 
inquisitive,  imaginative,  she  no  sooner  saw  a  principle 
than  she  must  attempt  to  realize  it  in  practice.  The 
short-comings  revealed  by  introspection  were  always 
a  cause  of  suffering  to  her,  yet  religious  assurance  was 
a  prominent  characteristic.  Though  a  member  of  the 
church,  her  intelligence  and  independence  of  mind 
kept  her  always  in  advance  of  strict  orthodoxy.  She 
was  passionately  solicitous  about  the  religious  educa¬ 
tion  of  her  children,  and  with  Mr.  Noyes’s  consent  con¬ 
stantly  maintained  family  worship.  In  the  selection  of 
their  permanent  home,  in  the  choice  of  schools,  and  in 
other  important  family  moves  her  eye  was  always 
on  the  religious  bearing,  and  her  judgment  had  great 
weight  in  deciding  the  issue. 

Into  this  home,  unusually  compounded  of  intellect 
and  heart,  nine  children  were  born :  Mary,  who  mar¬ 
ried  Larkin  G.  Mead,  an  attorney  of  Brattleboro,  and 
became  the  mother  of  Larkin  G.  Mead,  the  sculptor, 
William  R.  Mead,  member  of  the  architectural  firm  of 
McKim,  Mead  &  White,  and  Elinor  Mead,  wife  of 
William  Dean  Howells;  Elizabeth,  who  married  Dr. 
F.  A.  Ransom,  and  settled  in  Michigan,  where  she  died 
young;  Joanna,  who  married  Samuel  Hayes  of  New 
Haven,  went  with  him  to  Trinidad,  and  died  of  a 
tropical  fever;  John  Humphrey,  founder  of  the  Oneida 
Community,  and  the  subject  of  this  biography; 
Horatio,  who  became  a  successful  business  man  and 
banker;  Harriet,  Charlotte,  and  George,  all  of  whom 
devoted  their  lives  to  the  Oneida  Community ;  and  an¬ 
other  George,  who  died  at  ten  years  of  age. 


CHAPTER  II 


BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  YOUTH 

John  Humphrey  Noyes  was  born  at  Brattleboro, 
Vermont,  September  3,  1811.  The  day  was  “Free¬ 
man’s  Meeting-Day,”  a  holiday,  which  at  that  time  was 
annually  celebrated  in  the  New  England  States.  It 
was  also  the  day  on  which  his  father  was  elected  Rep¬ 
resentative  of  Brattleboro  in  the  Vermont  Legislature. 
His  father  was  called  from  the  election  meeting  to  at¬ 
tend  at  the  birth. 

When  his  mother  saw  that  she  had  given  birth,  as 
she  expressed  it,  to  a  “proper  child,”  she  characteris¬ 
tically  devoted  him  to  the  Lord,  and  prayed  that  he 
might  become  a  “minister  of  the  everlasting  gospel.” 

When  John  was  three  years  old,  to  use  his  mother’s 
expression,  “the  devil  all  but  killed  him.”  A  servant 
girl  took  him  for  a  walk  down  to  his  grandmother 
Hayes’s,  and  John  running  around  fell  into  a  tub  of 
clothes  just  emptied  from  the  boiler.  The  burn  was 
deep.  The  skin  came  off  with  his  clothes  from  a 
place  as  wide  as  his  mother’s  hand,  and  around  his 
body  lacking  two  inches.  During  the  first  dressing 
the  child’s  breath  seemed  all  gone,  but  while  his  mother 
knelt  in  prayer  it  came  again.  It  was  twelve  days 
before  he  stood  on  his  feet,  and  four  months  before  the 
wound  was  healed. 


8 


BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  YOUTH 


He  was  a  little  boy  when  he  had  the  measles.  He 
sat  in  the  house  all  one  day  in  a  dumpy,  stupid  state 
until  about  four  o’clock,  when  all  at  once  he  jumped 
up,  and  said :  “The  measles  have  turned,”  and  went 
off  out-doors.  That  was  the  last  that  was  heard  of 
his  measles. 

He  was  always  fond  of  thinking.  As  a  little  boy  he 
used  to  say  that  he  would  go  to  bed  early,  because  he 
wanted  to  think.  He  was  apt  to  be  passionate  and 
violent  when  provoked.  Even  as  a  boy  he  was  a 
natural  leader.  His  mother  writes:  “I  can  see  him 
now  marching  off  up  the  hill  at  the  head  of  a  company 
of  his  playmates,  all  armed  with  mullein-stalks.” 

In  1817  the  family  moved  to  Dummerston,  Ver¬ 
mont,  a  small  village  near  Brattleboro,  and  here  John 
received  his  early  schooling. 

His  first  serious  religious  impressions  were  re¬ 
ceived  when  he  was  only  eight  years  old.  He  was 
converted  then  in  a  revival  at  Putney,  a  neighboring 
town,  and  for  a  time  was  enthusiastic  for  serving  the 
Lord  and  saving  his  soul;  but  he  was  sent  away  to 
school  at  Amherst,  Massachusetts,  and  apparently  lost 
the  whole  impression. 

While  attending  school  at  Amherst  at  the  age  of 
nine,  he  wrote  to  his  mother  the  following  letter, 
which  is  the  earliest  of  his  writings  that  has  been 
preserved : 

Amherst,  May  26,  1821.  Saturday,  P.  M. 

Dear  Mother: — As  school  does  not  keep  this  after¬ 
noon  I  have  begun  a  letter  to  you.  It  is  rather  too 
soon,  methinks,  after  our  separation.  However,  as 


10  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

you  told  me  that  I  must  write  long  letters  to  you,  and 
as  I  am  not  very  quick  of  intellect,  I  thought  it  best  to 
begin  soon  enough. 

I  have  been  pretty  contented  since  you  left  me,  ex¬ 
cept  last  evening  I  was  rather  inclined  to  be  home¬ 
sick.  I  sat  in  my  chamber  alone,  the  wind  whistled 
around  the  house.  I  began  to  think  of  home,  and  I 
became  sad.  I  took  my  book,  and  looked  over  my 
lesson,  then  went  to  the  book-store,  and  got  me  ink 
and  paper,  and  begun  me  a  journal,  which  I  intend  to 
write  in  every  day.  I  like  my  boarding-place,  and 
have  but  one  or  two  objections,  namely,  there  is  no 
looking-glass  in  my  room,  nor  drawers  to  put  my 
clothes  in,  which  is  very  unhandy,  as  every  time  I  go 
to  my  trunk  I  have  to  haul  my  things  all  over;  and 
lastly,  my  room  is  in  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
house,  so  that  I  cannot  tell  when  it  is  time  to  get  up 
in  the  morning. 

Sunday  evening. — I  did  not  go  to  meeting  this  fore¬ 
noon,  because  I  did  not  hear  the  bell  till  late,  and  I 
went  down  and  all  were  gone  to  meeting.  I  went  in 
the  afternoon.  A  Mr.  Dickinson  preached.  A  Testa¬ 
ment,  which  was  in  the  list  of  my  books,  was  forgotten 
in  packing  up  my  things  to  bring  down  here.  I  missed 
it  very  much  today.  Mamma,  I  must  say  that  when 
I  am  not  reading,  or  writing,  or  studying,  I  am  home¬ 
sick.  Yes,  I  am  homesick.  I  can’t  imagine  why  Kid¬ 
der  does  not  come.  I  believe  I  should  feel  better,  if 
there  were  somebody  here  whom  I  know,  and  by  whom 
I  am  known.  How  heavily  the  hours  pass!  What 
leisure  moments  I  have  I  am  obliged  to  spend  in  soli¬ 
tude.  No  companion,  no  bed-fellow,  nothing  new. 


BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  YOUTH 


11 


This  ain’t  happiness.  But  away  with  all  this !  I  fear 
I  have  distressed  you  already. 

Monday  night. — Again  alone  and  disconsolate,  I 
take  my  pen  to  write  a  few  words  to  you.  I  expected 
Kidder  here  tonight,  and  have  been  down  to  the 
tavern  to  see  if  he  was  there;  but  no  smiling  counte¬ 
nance  met  mine.  When  I  am  writing  to  you,  or 
studying,  or  reading,  I  feel  tolerably  cheerful;  but 
just  at  dusk,  to  sit  in  my  room  alone  and  think  of 
home,  I  soon  begin  to  feel  my  heart  rising  into  my 
mouth;  then  a  flood  of  tears  is  my  only  relief. 

Tell  Papa  that  I  am  studying  Cicero,  and  that  I 
have  got  to  the  fourth  book  of  Virgil. 

I  must  leave  a  little  space  for  the  news  that  the 
girls  told  me  I  must  write.  So  adieu. 

Yours  affectionately, 

John  Noyes. 

N.  B. — Handwriting  superexcellent. 

When  John  was  ten  years  old,  his  father  began  to 
carry  out  his  plan  of  retiring  from  business,  and  pro¬ 
posed  that  the  family  move  to  some  place  having 
greater  educational  advantages  than  Dummerston. 
Amherst,  where  the  four  older  children  were  then 
attending  school,  and  New  Haven  were  for  a  time 
favorably  considered  as  possibilities.  Mrs.  Noyes 
at  once  perceived  that  this  question  involved  the 
religious  as  well  as  the  intellectual  welfare  of  her 
children,  and  unwilling  to  rely  for  a  solution  on 
human  wisdom  alone  gave  herself  up  to  special  prayer 
on  the  subject  for  three  months.  When  at  length,  in 
deference  largely  to  her  wishes,  the  choice  fell  upon 


12 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


Putney,  Vermont,  a  town  on  the  Connecticut  River, 
convenient  to  Brattleboro,  and  the  home  of  several 
educated  families  of  high  social  standing  with  whom 
the  Noyeses  were  already  acquainted,  but  more  than 
all  the  scene  of  recent  fervent  religious  revivals,  she 
felt  assured  that  the  decision  had  been  determined  by 
an  all-wise  Providence.  A  dignified,  commodious  man¬ 
sion  with  farm  adjoining  was  purchased  from  Captain 
Benjamin  Smith,  a  merchant  and  leading  man  of  the 
town,  and  in  December  1822  the  family  moved  into 
their  new  home. 

Soon  after  this  John  was  sent  to  the  Brattleboro 
Academy  to  complete  his  preparation  for  college. 

In  April  1823  the  first  George  W.,  John’s  younger 
brother  and  nearest  mate,  was  taken  seriously  ill. 
When  it  appeared  as  if  George  could  not  live,  John 
was  sent  for.  His  sister  Mary  remembered  seeing 
him  coming  up  the  walk  crying.  The  crisis  passed, 
however,  and  John  went  back  to  school.  A  few  days 
later  John,  now  eleven  years  old,  wrote  to  his  mother: 
day,  because  it  is  Sunday,  and  I  have  more  time  than 
any  other  day.  I  have  written  but  little  in  my  diary, 
and  want  to  have  you  write  to  me  about  George,  so 
that  I  can  write  in  it.  .  .  .We  play  here  considerably; 
I  don’t  know  but  more  than  would  be  for  our  advan¬ 
tage.” 

About  the  first  of  June  1823  George  died;  and 
the  name  of  the  youngest  son  of  the  family,  then  a 
baby  six  months  old,  who  had  been  christened  “Wil¬ 
liam,”  was  changed  to  “George  W.” 

One  Saturday  afternoon,  when  John  was  twelve 


BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  YOUTH 


13 


years  old,  he  was  walking  home  to  Putney  from 
Brattleboro  with  another  boy  of  his  age.  By  wading 
West  River,  which  empties  into  the  Connecticut,  they 
could  considerably  shorten  the  distance.  But  when 
they  got  into  the  current,  it  was  deeper  than  they  ex¬ 
pected,  and  they  had  all  they  could  do  to  keep  on  their 
feet  and  pull  safe  across.  They  were  frightened,  and 
on  reaching  the  opposite  shore  John  told  his  com¬ 
panion,  he  thought  they  ought  to  kneel  down  and 
thank  God  that  they  were  safe. 

From  an  early  age  John  was  an  ardent  lover  of 
sport.  A  letter  from  his  sister  Joanna,  written  during 
a  vacation  when  he  was  thirteen  years  old,  alludes  to 
him  as  ‘‘hunting,  fishing  and  riding  all  the  time.” 

Almost  the  only  other  glimpse  we  have  of  him  dur¬ 
ing  his  grammar  school  days  is  in  a  letter  from  his 
“chum”  Kidder  Green,  in  which  he  is  referred  to  as 
a  “moving  skeleton,”  and  “inclined  to  give  way  a 
little  too  much  to  the  libido  corporis  ” 

In  September  1826,  a  few  days  after  he  passed  his 
fifteenth  birthday,  John  entered  Dartmouth  College. 
He  was  destined  at  first  for  Yale,  and  even  went  so 
far  as  to  provide  himself  with  a  standing  collar  of 
peculiar  cut,  which  at  that  time  was  worn  by  all  Yale 
students.  But  Mrs.  Noyes  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
Dartmouth  would  be  better  for  his  morals,  so  to  Dart¬ 
mouth  he  was  sent;  and  he  says  that  all  through  his 
freshman  year  his  Yale  standing  collar  was  a  “stand¬ 
ing  joke.” 

On  arriving  at  Hanover  John  was  taken  ill;  and  his 
father,  who  had  accompanied  him,  to  allay  the  anxiety 
of  the  folks  at  home  wrote  thus : 


14 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


“You  and  the  children  have  no  occasion  to  be 
alarmed  by  my  tarrying  here  after  Capt.  Green’s  re¬ 
turn.  John  has  entered  college,  and  is  very  agreeably 
located  at  Madam  Brown’s,  a  widow  of  the  former 
President.  Dr.  Muzzy  says  there  is  no  reason  for  my 
staying  here  at  all,  but  as  John  has  had  some  febrile 
symptoms,  and  my  leaving  him  in  a  strange  place 
might  depress  his  spirits,  which  are  pretty  good  now, 
I  thought  I  might  as  well  remain  a  little  longer.  I  find 
so  much  pleasure  in  seeing  the  place,  and  renewing 
old  acquaintances,  that  I  might  remain  here  for  some 
time  yet  without  any  other  inducement.” 

Within  a  few  days  John  recovered  sufficiently  to 
take  up  his  college  work.  From  a  letter  written  home 
a  little  later,  it  is  evident  that  the  Dartmouth  curricu¬ 
lum  in  1826  left  little  time  for  boys  to  misuse.  He 
writes: 

“Up  at  five.  Go  to  prayers  at  a  quarter  after.  Then 
immediately  go  to  recitation.  Then  have  breakfast. 
Then  study  till  eleven,  when  we  recite  in  Graeca 
Majora,  which  takes  up  an  hour.  Then  until  one  we 
employ  ourselves  as  we  please.  At  one  we  take  dinner, 
then  study  till  four,  when  we  recite  in  the  grammar, 
which  takes  an  hour  also.  At  a  quarter  before  six  we 
go  to  prayers,  which  with  supper  takes  up  the  time  till 
dark,  leaving  us  only  three-fourths  of  an  hour  in  the 
evening  to  get  our  lesson  in  Livy  for  the  next  morn¬ 
ing.” 

Replying  October  second  his  mother  says: 

“I  have  felt  a  good  deal  of  anxiety  about  your 
health,  and  do  still.  You  must  not  indulge  yourself 
in  anything  that  will  injure  you.  Be  careful,  and  your 
early  rising  will,  I  hope,  be  a  benefit  to  you.  .  .  .We 


BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  YOUTH 


15 


all  hope  you  will  endeavor  to  improve  your  advantages. 
You  know  how  solicitous  your  father  is  that  you  should 
be  diligent  in  your  studies.  I  am  no  less  solicitous  that 
you  should  adopt  such  a  course  in  everything  as  shall 
terminate  well  in  the  end  of  all.” 

And  Mary,  John’s  oldest  sister,  adds  on  the  same 
sheet : 

“Do  not  forget  to  attend  to  your  personal  appear¬ 
ance,  your  manners,  your  studies,  etc.  Write  a  list  of 
your  clothes  in  your  memorandum  book,  and  do  not 
let  them  get  scattered.  Papa  wishes  you  to  have  a  let¬ 
ter  always  ready  to  send  by  private  conveyance,  as  you 
may  have  opportunity.  We  will  do  the  same.” 

There  is  one  letter  at  this  period  in  which  Johns 
mother  expresses  the  earnest  hope  that  he  will  become 
a  minister;  and  one  to  which  his  father  appends  this 
brief  but  characteristic  note: 

“Your  studies  previous  to  this  year  were  like  laying 
the  foundations  of  a  building.  The  languages,  gram¬ 
mar,  logic  and  rhetoric  will  be  helps  in  selecting  proper 
materials,  fitting  them  into  shapes,  putting  them  to¬ 
gether  with  close  and  compact  joints,  and  embellish¬ 
ing  the  whole  with  painting  and  ornaments.  Mathe¬ 
matics,  chemistry,  philosophy  and  astronomy  are  cal¬ 
culated  to  teach  you  the  just  proportions  of  the  edifice 
— how  to  divide  it  into  appropriate  apartments,  and 
give  to  the  whole  loftiness  and  grandeur.  I  trust  that 
what  I  have  written  may  serve  to  elevate  your  ideas 
of  education,  and  admonish  you  that  your  aim  must 
be  at  a  lofty  mark ;  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  you  will 
divest  yourself  of  every  notion  and  habit  which  will 
retard  your  flight.” 


16 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


Notwithstanding  a  wealth  of  exhortation  and  ad¬ 
vice  in  letters  from  home,  few  details  of  John’s  life 
during  his  first  two  and  a  half  years  in  college  can 
be  gleaned  from  extant  records.  His  own  letters  were 
infrequent,  and  not  especially  remarkable.  On  one 
occasion  a  favorable  report  of  his  scholarship  and 
behavior  from  an  indirect  source  brought  cheer  to  his 
parents’  hearts;  and  a  letter  from  Dean  Shurtleff  dated 
August  20,  1827,  pictures  him  from  the  standpoint  of 
the  faculty  in  the  following  terms: 

“I  am  happy  to  inform  you  that  your  son  has  been 
steady,  and  so  far  as  I  know  studious.  At  my  recita¬ 
tions  he  acquitted  himself  well,  and  I  am  informed 
by  his  Tutor  that  he  does  so  in  other  branches.  He 
certainly  has  a  sound  and  discriminating  mind,  and 
with  such  habits  of  study  as  I  trust  he  will  cultivate, 
there  is  little  danger  but  he  will  graduate  a  respectable 
scholar,  and  with  the  blessing  of  God  become  a  pillar 
in  society.” 

In  the  latter  part  of  1827,  when  sixteen  years  of  age, 
John  came  under  a  religious  influence  more  powerful 
than  any  he  had  yet  experienced.  It  will  be  recalled 
that  the  Noyes  mansion  at  Putney  was  purchased  from 
a  Captain  Benjamin  Smith.  Shortly  after  selling  out 
at  Putney,  Captain  Smith  moved  to  Gouverneur,  New 
York,  taking  with  him  two  nephews,  Henry  and  Her- 
vey  Smith,  who  had  been  known  at  Putney  as  rough, 
bad  boys.  About  two  years  later  Charles  G.  Finney, 
the  revivalist,  then  at  the  beginning  of  his  career,  spent 
six  months  at  Gouverneur,  and  the  town  was  shaken 
by  a  notable  revival.  Among  the  converts  were  Henry 


BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  YOUTH 


17 


and  Hervey  Smith.  In  June  1827  Henry  Smith  re¬ 
turned  to  Putney  on  a  visit,  and  Mrs.  Noyes,  writing 
to  John,  said  that  she  had  seldom  seen  a  young  man 
more  improved  by  religion  than  he.  Afterward  while 
John  was  at  home  on  a  vacation  the  Smiths  came  to 
Putney  again  and  commenced  a  revival  campaign. 
With  the  zeal  and  audacity  which  they  had  learned 
from  Finney  they  put  religion  foremost,  not  only  in 
meeting  but  on  every  occasion,  and  would  not  hesi¬ 
tate  to  stop  a  stranger  in  the  street  with  the  question, 
Do  you  know  that  you  are  on  the  road  to  hell?  The 
sensation  produced  in  the  town  was  tremendous.  John 
did  not  yield  to  their  direct  assaults,  but  he  always 
recognized  this  revival  as  one  of  the  prime  causes  of 
his  subsequent  conversion. 

From  the  above  description  and  such  additional 
hints  as  we  are  able  to  glean  from  the  contemporary 
records,  we  may  conclude  that  until  the  middle  of  his 
junior  year  in  college  John’s  mind  and  heart  were  un¬ 
awakened  and  gave  little  promise  of  the  man  that  was 
to  be. 


CHAPTER  III 


LATER  COLLEGE  LIFE 

In  January  1829  John  commenced  a  journal.  It 
is  headed :  “Fugitive  Pieces ,  By  the  author  of  etc.,  etc.,” 
and  the  introductory  paragraph  is  as  follows:  “The 
commencement  of  a  work  so  important  as  the  above 
title  denotes  would  seem  to  require  not  only  an  extraor¬ 
dinary  effort  in  the  author,  but  an  occasion  consider¬ 
ably  elevated  above  the  common  incidents  of  human 
life.  In  short,  as  the  saying  is,  I  must  put  my  best 
foot  forward,  ahem  twice,  and  proceed.” 

Extracts  from  College  Journal 

Jan.  9,  1829. — Riches,  fame,  and  pleasure  are  the 
three  great  objects  of  pursuit  in  life,  and  many  and 
various  are  the  ways  in  which  they  are  sought;  but 
if  a  few  simple  maxims  were  attended  to,  and  in  all 
cases  made  the  guidance  of  men’s  conduct,  they  would 
be  of tener  attained.  “Look  well  to  your  pence,  and 
the  pounds  will  take  care  of  themselves,”  is  a  rule  of 
universal  application  in  the  pursuit  of  wealth,  and  is 
not  incompatible  with  true  liberality  and  nobleness  of 
soul.  “Study  human  nature,  and  govern  yourself  ac¬ 
cordingly,”  is  a  maxim  equally  comprehensive  with 
regard  to  fame,  and  without  which  in  the  common 
walks  of  life  no  man  can  rise  to  distinction.  And  here 

18 


LATER  COLLEGE  LIFE 


19 


I  speak  not  with  regard  to  those  professions  which 
do  not  require,  but  rather  exclude  intercourse  with 
mankind,  for  in  such  cases  it  is  plain  that  but  little 
knowledge  of  human  nature  will  suffice.  Although 
those  who  seek  for  riches  and  fame  think  they  shall 
thereby  enhance  their  own  happiness,  there  is  still 
another  maxim  which  must  guide  those  who  would 
lead  a  happy  life :  “Whatever  may  be  your  lot,  strive 
to  be  content/’  is  the  only  solid  basis  of  real  happiness, 
and  applies  equally  well  to  men  in  every  situation  and 
condition. 

Jan.  io,  1829. — My  classmate  W - is  one  of 

your  real  pompous  boobies.  Without  talents,  learning 
or  wit,  he  assumes  all  the  dignity  of  manner,  and  af¬ 
fects  all  the  superiority,  and  as  I  may  say  magnanimity 
of  aspect,  which  we  naturally  attribute  to  those  who 
really  possess  the  above  qualities.  He  is  unsocial  and 
misanthropic  without  possessing  a  single  one  of  those 
better  qualities  which  usually  palliate  and  remove  the 
curse  from  misanthropy.  He  is  niggardly  of  his  own, 
but  liberal  of  other  people’s  money,  and  in  proof  of 
this  I  may  truly  say  that  I  have  frequently  seen  him 
engage  heart  and  hand  in  a  jolly  scrape,  but  never 
knew  him  to  have  his  wallet  about  him  when  the  bills 
were  to  be  paid. 

The  same  description  will  nearly  apply  to  L - , 

but  it  needs  to  be  extended.  He  is  more  of  a  pedant ; 
possesses  more  self-conceit;  is  far  less  liberal  in  his 
views  of  men  and  things.  His  whole  soul  seems  to 
be  devoted  to  his  own  advancement.  If  he  under¬ 
takes  to  converse  with  you,  it  is  obvious  to  the  most 
careless  observer  that  his  whole  object  is  to  display  his 


20 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


conversational  powers  and  his  learning.  Now,  I  love 
to  see  a  person  occasionally  cast  off  the  mask  of  dig¬ 
nity  and  ceremony,  and  give  himself  up  to  the  enter¬ 
tainment  of  his  fellows. 

April  24,  1829. 

I  hate  garrulity  and  self-conceit, 

And  vain  display  of  learning  or  of  wit, 

Where’er  I  meet  it.  But  a  greater  curse 
(In  man  ’tis  bad  enough,  in  woman  worse) 

Is  that  affected  modesty  called  cold  reserve, 
Which  holds  in  stiff  subjection  every  nerve, 

Ties  down  the  tongue  to  merely  “Yes”  or  “No,” 
And  chokes  the  fountains  whence  kind  feelings 
flow. 

And  this  vile  canker-worm,  this  deadly  pest 
To  every  joy  that’s  kindled  in  the  breast, 

Is  called  by  some  “good  breeding,”  and  by  some 
Is  named  “politeness.”  By  my  halidom! 

What  good  it  breeds,  or  where  its  merits  lay, 
’Twould  match  the  far-famed  Oedipus  to  say. 

I  am  a  fool !  And  why  ?  Because  I  cannot  conquer 
a  habit  which  will  be  my  ruin!  To  relieve  the  read¬ 
er’s  anxiety  I  will  premise  that  this  habit  is  not  to¬ 
bacco-chewing  nor  dram-drinking.  It  is  that  infernal 
diffidence,  natural  or  acquired,  which  makes  me  when 
in  company  appear  to  myself  and  to  everybody  else  a 
stupid  dunce.  Oh!  for  a  brazen  front  and  nerves  of 
steel!  I  swear  by  Jove,  I  will  be  impudent!  So  un¬ 
reasonable  and  excessive  is  my  bashfulness  that  I  fully 
believe  1/  could  face  a  battery  of  cannon  with  less 
trepidation  than  I  could  a  room  full  of  ladies  with 
whom  I  was  unacquainted. 


LATER  COLLEGE  LIFE 


21 


I  can  feel  my  cheek  burn  with  shame  frequently 
when  I  ruminate  upon  occurrences  occasioned  by  this 
plague  of  my  life.  For  example,  at  a  late  wedding- 
party  I  was  commissioned  to  introduce  a  number  of 
gentlemen  to  a  number  of  ladies,  and  I  performed  the 
ceremony  with  decent  grace  until  I  came  to  Mrs.  David 
Crawford,  and  then  I  was  nonplussed.  I  could  not 
recollect  her  name  upon  the  instant,  and  knowing  her 
to  be  a  Campbell  by  her  look,  I  introduced  her  as  such. 
I  saw  a  scornful  smile  pass  over  the  countenance  of  a 
certain  lady  who  sat  near,  and  I  immediately  perceived 
my  mistake;  and  so  great  was  my  mortification  that  I 
could  not  behave  afterwards  with  tolerable  politeness. 
Perhaps  I  shall  not  be  credited  when  I  say,  I  wished 
myself  a  hermit  or  a  savage. 

I  believe  that  in  the  contest  between  the  mind  and 
the  body  the  same  thing  happens  which  we  observe  in 
every  other  conflict,  viz.,  the  conqueror  is  animated  by 
the  victory  and  thenceforward  gains  more  and  more 
strength  and  more  and  more  relative  superiority, 
while  the  conquered,  dispirited  by  defeat,  declines  a 
second  strife  and  gradually  dwindles  away.  Of  this 
I  have  a  daily  example  before  my  eyes  in  the  case  of 
a  person  who  has  been  my  playmate,  schoolmate  and 
boon  companion  from  my  childhood.  He  was  once  as 
lively,  as  sensitive,  and  as  intelligent  as  any  of  his 
youthful  contemporaries ;  but  the  transition  from  boy¬ 
hood  to  manhood,  which  usually  determines  the  bent 
of  future  life,  was  a  miserable  though  imperceptible 
change.  Sense  gained  the  mastery  over  intellect,  and 
has  since  been  gradually  limiting  and  contracting  its 
sphere  until  it  would  almost  seem  the  Promethean 


22 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


spark  was  in  peril  of  being  actually  extinguished. 
When  the  mouth  is  sluggish  in  utterance,  but  active 
and  noisy  in  eating,  you  may  write  its  owner  a  fool. 

Feb.  15,  1830. — It  must  be  confessed  that  I  have 
access  to  a  sufficient  diversity  of  company  to  enable 
me  to  pass  my  leisure  hours  with  profit  and  pleasure. 
If  I  am  in  a  merry,  indolent  mood,  I  have  only  to 

descend  the  stairs  and  throw  myself  upon  P - ’s 

bed,  and  enjoy  merriment  and  indolence  to  my  heart’s 
content.  With  L - I  can  converse  upon  philosophi¬ 

cal  subjects;  with  E — —  upon  literary  and  sentimental 

topics;  with  N - I  can  dispute  upon  religion.  I  can 

talk  politics,  and  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  secretly  laugh¬ 
ing  at  egotism  with  M - ;  and  with  S -  (by  the 

way,  the  cleverest  fellow  in  my  class),  I  can  enjoy 
a  really  comfortable,  sociable  conversation  upon  any 
subject. 

Feb.  18,  1830. — As  a  proof  that  I  am  noted  for 
cheerfulness,  it  is  sufficient  to  adduce  the  fact  that  two 
patients  sorely  afflicted  with  the  hypo  have  applied  to 
me  today  for  consolation.  I  advised  them  never  to 
read  Byron,  never  to  think  of  suicide,  and  above  all 
to  repeat  every  five  minutes :  “Faint  heart  never  won 
fair  lady.” 

Feb.  24,  1830. — I  play  checkers  with  everybody,  and 
everybody  beats  me.  Well,  we’ll  see  what  perseverence 
will  do. 

Feb.  28,  1830. — W - and  I  have  been  on  remark¬ 

ably  good  terms  of  late,  and  as  he  goes  by  extremes 
both  in  affability  and  haughtiness,  we  have  had  a  won¬ 
derfully  jolly,  sociable  time  of  it.  This  “cheek  by 
jowl”  excitement  has  somewhat  subsided  today,  and 


LATER  COLLEGE  LIFE 


23 


the  consequence  is  that  I  am  inclined  to  be  home¬ 
sick.  This  circumstance  has  impressed  me  very 
strongly  with  the  necessity  of  a  person’s  having  re¬ 
sources  of  enjoyment  within  himself,  and  with  the 
misery  of  those  who  depend  wholly  upon  social  ex¬ 
citement  for  the  pleasures  of  life. 

Mar.  19,  1830. — I  begin  to  consider  myself  a  man 
of  fashion  since  I  have  purchased  my  bell-bottomed 
pantaloons,  square-toed  boots,  patent  leather  stock,  and 
pyramid-formed  hat.  I  imagine  that  a  handsome  dress 
actually  has  some  tendency  to  elevate  the  mind. 

April  1,  1830. — I  used  to  be  vexed  with  my  father 
for  confining  me  so  rigidly  to  my  studies,  but  now  I 
feel  nothing  but  gratitude. 

April  13,  1830. — I  am  afraid,  when  I  shall  “no 
longer  bask  in  the  bright  sunbeams  of  literary  glory,” 

I  shall  find  no  one  to  supply  W - ’s  place.  He  is  a 

philosopher,  and  as  I  am  of  a  stoical  cast  of  mind  we 
are  to  each  other  congenial  spirits.  We  walk  together, 
lounge  together,  sleep  together ;  and  are  constantly  dis¬ 
cussing  with  philosophical  coolness,  and  I  must  say 
acuteness,  the  subjects  which  chance  to  catch  our  at¬ 
tention,  and  these  I  can  assure  the  reader  are  not  few. 
Our  walk  of  three  miles  after  breakfast  gives  occa¬ 
sion  for  the  scintillation  of  numerous  sapient  ideas,  and 
considering  all  things  I  deem  it  by  far  the  most  pleas¬ 
ant  and  profitable  exercise  of  the  day. 

In  a  letter  to  his  father  dated  March  31,  1829,  John 
reported  that  he  stood  eighth  in  the  list  of  “Junior 
Appointees,”  and  added :  “I  intend  to  have  an  Ora¬ 
tion  when  I  graduate,  that  is,  if  study  will  effect  any¬ 
thing.”  He  made  good  in  this  resolve.  His  oration, 


24 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


however,  was  in  English,  not  in  Latin  or  Greek — 
which  means  that  he  fell  short  of  the  highest  honors. 

In  a  journal  entry  dated  October  1830  about  two 
months  after  his  graduation  he  thus  reviews  the  latter 
part  of  his  college  career : 

“The  changes  which  the  external  world  is  con¬ 
stantly  undergoing  have  been  descanted  on  from  time 
immemorial  by  all  classes  of  writers,  from  the  philoso¬ 
pher  to  the  school-boy.  But  my  own  experience  con¬ 
vinces  me  that  the  changes  which  are  wrought  upon 
the  mind  of  every  individual  as  he  passes  through  the 
stages  of  childhood,  youth,  manhood,  maturity  and 
age  are  incomparably  worthier  of  attention.  The 
number  of  these  changes  deserves  notice.  It  may  be 
that  I  have  less  stability  of  character  than  most  men; 
but  I  must  confess  that  my  views  of  men  and  things 
change  so  often  and  so  essentially  even  in  the  course 
of  a  single  year,  that  I  almost  lose  all  acquaintance 
with  myself.  I  will  endeavor  for  experiment’s  sake 
to  trace  these  changes  for  the  last  year. 

First,  I  was  simple  and  credulous;  averse  to  all 
society,  especially  that  of  the  opposite  sex ;  conse¬ 
quently  unpopular.  I  studied  because  it  was  my  duty, 
and  not  from  any  fondness  for  the  employment.  Fish¬ 
ing  and  hunting  and  ease  were  the  summa  bona  of 
my  existence. 

Suddenly  the  stamp  of  my  character  was  completely 
changed.  I  became  ambitious  of  popularity.  I 
studied  human  nature  and  learned  to  live  with  men. 

I  looked  deeply  and  eagerly  into  the  secrets  of  phi- 

Now  science  began  to  have  attractions  in  herself, 
losophy.  My  views  embraced  a  wider  scope  than  hith- 


LATER  COLLEGE  LIFE 


25 


erto;  and  I  panted  after  eminence  in  learning  as  the 
height  of  human  felicity. 

Another  change  came  over  my  spirit.  Its  details 
would  be  tedious.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  I  sought 
happiness  and  distinction  in  philosophic  stoicism.  The 
fit  lasted  but  a  brief  space,  and  next  I  found  myself 
seeking  the  bright  phantom  in  the  mazes  of  dissipa¬ 
tion.  Another  revolution  placed  me  on  far  higher 
ground.  Virtue,  honor,  and  the  dictates  of  conscience 
stood  preeminent  in  my  estimation  as  the  guarantee 
of  happiness.” 


CHAPTER  IV 


LAW  STUDIES 

The  year  following  his  graduation  from  college  John 
spent  at  Chesterfield,  New  Hampshire,  studying  law  in 
the  office  of  his  brother-in-law,  Larkin  G.  Mead. 
There  was  in  the  village  an  academy  attended  by  eighty 
or  ninety  boys  and  girls,  around  which  a  succession  of 
balls  and  parties  naturally  centered.  As  John  and  his 
classmate  Putnam  (who  was  also  studying  in  Mr. 
Mead’s  office)  were  college  graduates,  they  were 
looked  upon  as  leaders,  and  had  frequent  opportunities 
to  join  in  these  gayeties. 

Extracts  from  Diary 

October  8,  1830. — “Cousin  Oliver”  informed  Put 
and  me  that  he  and  his  fair  cousins  had  received  an 
invitation  to  spend  the  evening  and  eat  some  peaches 
at  Mr.  Pierce’s.  “And  shall  we  spend  this  evening  in 
the  solitude  and  smoke  of  Esquire  Mead’s  office?”  said 
Put.  “Cursed  be  the  thought!”  was  the  response.  We 
each  made  a  paddle,  and  bent  our  course  for  the  lake. 
Put,  being  acquainted  with  the  family,  unceremoni¬ 
ously  entered  the  house.  “Esquire  Pierce,  how  did 
matters  go  with  you  at  Keene?”  “Oh,  nicely,  nicely.” 
“I  knew  ’twould  be  so.  Nobody  undertakes  to  over¬ 
reach  you  without  faring  the  worse  for  it.  But, 

26 


MARY  (NOYES)  MEAD 


LAW  STUDIES 


27 


Esquire  Pierce,  I  was  coming  up  with  Mr.  Noyes  to 
take  a  ride  on  the  lake,  and  I  thought  I  would  call  to 
see  if  Larkin  sent  any  word  by  you.”  “Why,  no,  he 
didn’t.”  “Well,  I  thought  I  would  just  inquire.  Good 
day.”  “Stop  a  minute,  Mr.  Putnam.  We,  are  going 
to  have  a  little  party  here  tonight  to  eat  peaches,  and 
I  should  be  glad  to  have  you  spend  the  evening  with 
us;  also  Mr.  Noyes.”  “Well,  I’ll  endeavor  to  come 
with  Mr.  Noyes.”  And  so  indeed  we  did.  We  had  a 
delightful  walk  to  Mr.  Pierce’s,  a  delightful  evening, 
and  a  delightful  walk  home — all  in  the  company  of 
the  ladies  boarding  at  Dr.  Baker’s. 

An  Original. — Ephraim  Crouch  was  a  man  of  few 
words  and  many  smiles.  It  will  be  long  ere  I  forget 
the  soft  simper  and  the  noiseless  tread  with  which  he 
was  wont  to  enter  the  office.  He  would  reply  to  our  sal¬ 
utations  in  a  voice  subdued  and  scarcely  audible,  and  as 
he  skulked  into  the  darkest  corner  of  the  room  I  never 
could  help  thinking  of  the  applicability  of  his  name. 
Yes,  “crouch”  was  the  word  of  all  others  most  expres¬ 
sive  of  his  character.  Hour  after  hour  he  would  sit 
silent  and  simpering  behind  the  door,  and  all  the  while, 
so  great  was  his  bashfulness,  the  utmost  stretch  of  his 
audacity  never  extended  farther  than  to  a  transfer  of 
his  legs  from  one  to  the  other  of  the  usual  Yankee 
positions. 

We  often  amused  ourselves  with  his  conversation, 
and  our  merriment  frequently  ran  so  high  that  in  order 
to  disguise  its  object  we  were  obliged  to  have  recourse 
to  sundry  ingenious  devices,  often  leading  him  to  think 
by  some  incoherent  talk  that  we  were  laughing  at  cer¬ 
tain  ludicrous  allusions  unknown  to  him,  and  some- 


28 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


times  flattering  him  with  the  idea  that  our  excessive 
mirth  was  caused  by  the  pungency  of  his  wit.  .  .  . 

To  do  Crouch  justice,  he  was  minutely  versed  in  all 
the  common  branches  of  schoolmaster  learning.  Be¬ 
sides  he  was  a  man  of  unbounded  good-humor,  ever 
ready  to  accommodate  his  neighbor,  never  known  to 
harbor  malice,  free  from  fickleness,  vanity  and  envy; 
in  short  according  to  the  abilities  which  nature  had 
bestowed  upon  him  he  was  without  spot  or  blemish. 

Nov.  19,  1830. — Three  months  of  mingled  mirth 
and  misery  are  gone,  and  with  them  are  gone — various 
things — no  matter  what.  I  came  here  expecting  to 
enjoy  everything  that  society  could  furnish,  and 
(thanks  to  the  depravity  of  human  nature)  society  has 
been  a  constant  source  of  misery  to  me.  I  found  here 
Smith  and  his  cousins,  and  my  first  acquaintance  with 
them  surely  did  not  in  any  measure  dissipate  the  illusive 
expectations  which  I  had  formed.  Their  beauty  and 
their  vivacity  equally  conspired  to  elicit  admiration.  I 
was  delighted — bewitched.  In  short  my  fancy  was 
wrought  up  to  such  a  pitch  that  I  imagined  I  had  at 
length  found  that  perfection  for  which  I  had  hitherto 
sought  in  vain.  Put  and  I  were  among  the  gods  for  a 
week.  I  pretended  to  study  Blackstone,  but  my 
thoughts  and  eyes  held  no  communion.  Any  one  con¬ 
sidering  the  subjects  of  my  meditations  by  day  and 
my  dreams  by  night  might  reasonably  conclude  that 
I  was  happy;  but  the  true  state  of  the  case  was  far  dif¬ 
ferent.  If  excitement  is  the  essence  of  happiness,  I 
was  superlatively  happy;  but  impatience  of  absence 
from  those  seraphs,  jealousy  of  my  competitors  in 
gallantry,  and  the  dolorous  reflection  that  the  school 


LAW  STUDIES 


29 


would  close  in  thirteen  weeks  were  constantly  dragging 
me  down  from  the  pinnacle  of  felicity  which  seemed 
to  be  almost  within  my  reach.  .  .  . 

Upon  a  review  of  the  preceding  campaign  I  discern 
many  points  in  which  I  have  erred,  and  I  therefore 
commit  it  to  paper,  that  by  occasionally  refreshing 
my  mind  with  its  events  I  may  be  furnished  with 
examples  for  correction  and  reproof  in  future  scenes. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  John,  while  at  Chester¬ 
field,  gave  himself  up  wholly  to  amusement.  On  the 
contrary  Mr.  Mead  in  a  letter  dated  Nov.  9,  1830,  says : 
“John  and  Putnam  study  as  for  their  lives,  and  are 
great  in  the  Law.”  Three  weeks  later  John  writes 
in  his  diary:  “Yesterday  I  made  my  debut  as  an  ad¬ 
vocate,  and  a  most  shabby  performance  it  was.  I  was 
frightened  beyond  all  reasonable  bounds.  I  stammered 
and  trembled,  and  for  a  few  minutes  was  utterly  un¬ 
able  to  fabricate  a  decent  concatenation  of  words.  It 
is  true,  before  I  had  finished  I  had  disfurnished  my¬ 
self  of  a  portion  of  my  trepidation ;  but  still  the  con¬ 
clusion  of  the  whole  matter  is,  that  (in  the  taunting 
words  of  ’Squire  Spaulding)  I  'did  not  plead  worth  a 
damn!’  However,  when  I  consider  the  disadvantage 
under  which  I  labored,  my  speech  being  wholly  un¬ 
premeditated,  although  I  must  bear  the  curse  of  other 
people’s  contempt,  still  my  opinion  of  myself  has  suf¬ 
fered  no.  incurable  deterioration.” 

Throughout  his  boyhood  John  had  been  held  in 
check  socially  not  merely  by  his  inveterate  bashfulness, 
but  by  the  conviction  that  he  was  personally  unattrac¬ 
tive.  He  had  red  hair  and  freckles,  and  thought  of 


30 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


himself  as  like  the  “Black  Dwarf”  in  the  story — so 
ugly  that  no  one  would  ever  care  for  him.  Conse¬ 
quently  he  had  resigned  himself  to  the  fate  of  re¬ 
maining  unmarried,  and  had  made  up  his  mind  to  be 
a  philosopher.  But  during  his  residence  at  Chester¬ 
field  he  acquired  greater  social  freedom,  and  presently 
he  was  thrilled  by  the  discovery  that  he  was  not  like 
the  “Black  Dwarf”  after  all.  Among  the  students  in 
the  academy  was  a  young  woman  named  Caroline 

M - ,  toward  whom  he  was  strongly  attracted.  The 

friendship  which  sprang  up  between  them  is  reflected 
in  the  following  stanzas  copied  from  his  diary : 

An  Invitation  to  an  Evening  Walk 

Mark,  Caroline,  yon  western  sky, 

Deep-tinged  in  crimson  light. 

The  sun’s  red  glories  haste  to  die, 

And  swift  comes  on  the  night. 

Now  turn  again,  and  mark  yon  star 
Dim  twinkling  in  the  east. 

See,  just  above  the  dark  belt  where 
The  sun’s  domain  has  ceased. 

Then  hasten,  ere  the  twilight  ends. 

Far  down  the  vale  we’ll  roam, 

Nor  pause  till  o’er  us  night  descends, 

Then  Love  shall  light  us  home! 

Toward  the  end  of  the  school  year  it  became  neces¬ 
sary  for  Caroline  to  return  to  her  home,  and  John 
was  thrown  into  deep  distress.  He  was  strongly 
tempted  to  make  her  an  offer  of  marriage.  After 


LAW  STUDIES 


31 


some  hard  thinking,  however,  he  made  up  his  mind 
that  she  was  not  the  woman  he  would  choose  for  a  life 
companion.  Realizing  that  her  departure  would  be  a 
highly  emotional  occasion,  he  doubted  himself  and  the 
consequences  of  a  parting  interview.  He  cut  the 
Gordian  knot  by  taking  his  cane  and  running  away 
home  to  Putney.  Caroline  soon  left  the  village,  and 
he  never  saw  her  again. 


CHAPTER  V 


CONVERSION  TO  RELIGION 

A  momentous  change!  John  had  marveled  at  the 
changes  through  which  he  passed  during  his  senior 
year  in  college.  Now  comes  another  change  so  revo¬ 
lutionary  that  it  made  September  1831  seem  ever  af¬ 
terward  the  beginning  of  the  life  that  really  counted. 

The  year  1831  is  known  in  the  religious  annals  of 
America  as  the  year  of  “the  great  awakening.”  There 
had  been  religious  revivals  before,  but  none  so  great  as 
the  one  that  shook  the  country  in  the  years  1831  to 
1834. 

The  first  noteworthy  revival  in  America  took  place 
in  about  1740  under  the  leadership  of  Jonathan  Ed¬ 
wards.  Though  limited  in  the  area  directly  affected, 
it  struck  deeply  into  American  life  for  an  entire  gen¬ 
eration.  During  the  American  and  French  revolu¬ 
tions,  however,  the  new  religious  life  was  temporarily 
overshadowed  by  European  deism.  When  Lyman 
Beecher  was  at  Yale  in  1794,  Voltaire,  Rosseau  and 
Paine  were  the  idols  of  the  students. 

But  Lyman  Beecher  himself  started  a  reaction 
toward  religion,  which  carried  the  church  to  a  higher 
level  than  ever  before.  Graduating  from  the  Yale 
Theological  Seminary  in  1798,  intellectual,  earnest, 
enthusiastic,  masterful,  his  long  career  as  preacher  and 

32 


CONVERSION  TO  RELIGION 


33 


teacher  was  an  almost  unbroken  trail  of  brilliant  re¬ 
vivals.  The  most  important  of  these  were  at  East 
Hampton,  Long  Island,  in  the  years  1807-1810,  at 
Litchfield,  Connecticut,  in  1813-1825,  and  at  Boston, 
Massachusetts,  in  1826-1831. 

The  next  noted  revivalist  was  Dr.  Asahel  Nettleton. 
Like  Beecher  he  was  a  graduate  of  the  Yale  Theologi¬ 
cal  Seminary,  but  unlike  him  he  was  lacking  in  physical 
vigor,  and  his  disposition  was  of  the  gentle,  persuasive 
type.  Nevertheless  his  success  as  a  revivalist  was 
phenomenal.  During  the  fourteen  years  from  1812  to 
1826  his  preaching  was  attended  by  fervent  revivals 
in  upwards  of  thirty  cities  and  towns  in  Connecticut, 
besides  a  dozen  or  more  places  in  the  vicinity  of  Al¬ 
bany,  New  York,  and  the  adjacent  parts  of  Massachu¬ 
setts,  and  in  several  towns  in  Virginia. 

In  1824  cames  Charles  G.  Finney,  the  greatest  re¬ 
vivalist  of  the  period.  He  commenced  his  career  at 
Adams,  New  York.  Trained  as  a  lawyer,  eloquent, 
passionate,  magnetic,  he  swept  all  before  him.  Jeffer¬ 
son,  Oneida,  and  Herkimer  Counties  were  soon  aflame, 
and  came  to  be  known  as  “the  burnt  district.”  At 
Rome,  New  York,  nearly  the  entire  adult  population 
were  converted  in  a  campaign  of  twenty  days.  At 
Rochester  in  1830  a  great  majority  of  the  leading  men 
and  women  were  converted,  and  the  character  of  the 
city  was  permanently  changed.  Similar  revivals  took 
place  at  Gouverneur,  Utica,  Auburn,  Troy,  Buffalo, 
Wilmington,  Providence,  Boston  and  New  York. 

Inspired  by  the  example  of  Beecher,  Nettleton  and 
Finney  a  host  of  workers  entered  the  field.  More  ef¬ 
fective  measures  for  reaching  the  irreligious  were  intro- 


34 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


duced,  such  as  protracted  meetings,  cooperation  of  lay¬ 
men,  and  urgent  personal  appeals  and  prayers.  These 
forces  resulted  in  spreading  the  enthusiasm  over  a 
constantly  widening  area.  Lawyers,  physicians,  mer¬ 
chants,  and  young  men  just  out  of  college  were  fore¬ 
most  among  the  converts.  It  was  estimated  that  in 
the  year  1830  alone  one  hundred  thousand  persons 
joined  the  church.  Multitudes  believed  that  the  mil¬ 
lennium  was  about  to  commence. 

In  September  1831  John  had  completed  a  year  of 
law  study  in  the  office  of  his  brother-in-law,  Larkin  G. 
Mead,  and  was  looking  forward  eagerly  to  a  year  of 
study  and  practice  with  his  uncle  at  Brattleboro.  He 
had  deliberately  resolved,  he  says,  “to  indulge  the  lust 
of  the  eye  and  the  pride  of  life  for  the  present,  and  risk 
the  consequences;  in  short,  to  jump  the  life  to  come.” 
Within  a  week  he  was  completely  transformed;  and 
within  six  weeks  he  was  at  Andover  as  ardent  in  the 
study  of  theology  as  he  had  been  in  that  of  the  law. 
His  own  account  of  this  change  written  in  his  diary 
is  as  follows:* 


*'  Noyes  was  a  man  whom  psychologists  would  call  a  “re¬ 
ligious  genius.”  His  religious  experience  was  fervent  and  origi¬ 
nal,  like  that  of  Martin  Luther,  John  Bunyan,  George  Fox. 
No  better  analysis  of  it  can  be  given  than  that  contained  in 
the  following  paragraphs  from  William  James's  Varieties  of 
Religious  Experience: 

“There  can  be  no  doubt  that  as  a  matter  of  fact  a  religious 
life,  exclusively  pursued,  does  tend  to  make  the  person  excep¬ 
tional  and  eccentric.  I  speak  not  now  of  your  ordinary  relig¬ 
ious  believer,  who  follows  the  conventional  observances  of  his 
country,  whether  it  be  Buddhist,  Christian  or  Mohammedan. 
His  religion  has  been  made  for  him  by  others,  communicated 
to  him  by  tradition,  determined  to  fixed  forms  by  imitation, 
and  retained  by  habit.  It  would  profit  us  little  to  study  this 
second-hand  religious  life.  We  must  make  search  rather  for 


CONVERSION  TO  RELIGION 


35 


I  was  at  Glens  Falls  on  a  visit  when  I  first  began 
to  ascertain  the  determination  of  my  own  mind  as 
to  the  impropriety  of  a  four-days  meeting.  I  knew 
that  such  a  meeting  was  to  commence  in  Putney  on  the 
13th,  and  I  felt  a  dread  of  being  present  at  it.  1  looked 
upon  religion,  at  least  I  endeavored  to  do  so,  as  a  sort 


the  original  experiences  which  were  the  pattern-setters  to  all 
this  mass  of  suggested  feeling  and  imitated  conduct.  These 
experiences  wTe  can  only  find  in  individuals  for  whom  religion 
exists  not  as  a  dull  habit,  but  as  an  acute  fever  rather.  But 
such  individuals  are  ‘geniuses’  in  the  religious  line;  and  like 
many  other  geniuses  who  have  brought  forth  fruits  effective 
enough  for  commemoration  in  the  pages  of  biography,  such 
religious  geniuses  have  often  shown  symptoms  of  nervous  in¬ 
stability.  Even  more  perhaps  than  other  kinds  of  genius,  relig¬ 
ious  leaders  have  been  subject  to  abnormal  psychical  visita¬ 
tions.  Invariably  they  have  been  creatures  of  exalted  emo¬ 
tional  sensibility.  Often  they  have  led  a  discordant  inner  life, 
and  had  melancholy  during  a  part  of  their  career.  They  have 
known  no  measure,  been  liable  to  obsessions  and  fixed  ideas; 
and  frequently  they  have  fallen  into  trances,  heard  voices,  seen 
visions,  and  presented  all  sorts  of  peculiarities  which  are  ordi¬ 
narily  classed  as  pathological.  Often,  moreover,  these  patho¬ 
logical  features  in  their  career  have  helped  to  give  them  their 
religious  authority  and  influence.  .  .  . 

“When  a  superior  intellect  and  a  psychopathic  temperament 
coalesce  in  the  same  individual,  we  have  the  best  possible  con¬ 
dition  for  effective  genius.  Such  men  do  not  remain  mere 
critics  and  understanders  with  their  intellect.  Their  ideas  pos¬ 
sess  them,  they  inflict  them,  for  better  or  worse,  upon  their 
companions  or  their  age.  .  .  . 

“In  the  psychopathic  temperament  we  have  the  emotionality 
which  is  the  sine  qua  non  of  moral  perception;  we  have  the 
intensity  and  tendency  to  emphasis  which  are  the  essence  of 
practical  moral  vigor;  and  we  have  the  love  of  metaphysics  and 
mysticism  which  carry  one’s  interests  beyond  the  surface  of 
the  sensible  world.  What  then  is  more  natural  than  that  this 
temperament  should  introduce  one  to  regions  of  religious  truth 
which  your  robust,  Philistine  type  of  nervous  system  .  .  . 
would  be  sure  to  hide  forever  from  its  self-satisfied  posses¬ 
sors?  If  there  were  such  a  thing  as  inspiration  from  a  higher 
realm,  it  might  well  be  that  the  neurotic  temperament  would 
furnish  the  chief  condition  of  the  requisite  receptivity.”  Pp. 
6-7,  23-25. 


36 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


of  phrenzy  to  which  all  were  liable,  and  feared  lest  I 
should  be  caught  in  the  snare.  However,  my  aversion 
to  it  was  such,  and  my  love  of  the  pleasures  of  the 
world  so  strong,  that  I  concluded  to  yield  to  the  force 
of  circumstances  which  seemed  to  summon  me  to  the 
spot ;  and  trusting  in  my  own  strength  to  resist  the  as¬ 
saults  of  the  Lord  I  attended  the  meeting  on  the  14th. 
I  knew  that  Mother  was  exceedingly  anxious  that  I 
should  receive  the  word,  but  I  told  her  plainly  that  she 
would  be  disappointed.  She  asked  me  why  I  went,  and 
I  replied,  to  please  her.  However,  I  think  that  curi¬ 
osity  and  perhaps  a  twinge  of  my  own  conscience  were 
among  the  motives  which  led  me  thither. 

My  recollections  of  the  impressions  produced  on  me 
the  first  day  are  indistinct ;  they  were  probably  similar 
to  those  produced  by  ordinary  sabbath  exercises.  The 
second  day  passed  off  in  a  like  manner,  until  those  who 
desired  the  prayers  of  God’s  people  were  called  efut. 
The  thought  occasioned  by  the  scene  gave  me  much 
uneasiness,  and  I  was  prevented  from  presenting  my¬ 
self  only  by  the  thought  that,  when  the  excitement  had 
subsided,  I  should  throw  off  my  impressions,  anff 
should  thus  expose  myself  to  ridicule. 

During  the  last  day  there  was  a  solemnity  on  my 
spirit.  It  seemed  to  me  that  I  must  make  up  my  mind 
whom  I  would  serve,  and  I  determined  to  brace  myself 
for  the  conflict.  The  consideration  which  weighed 
most  with  me  was  that  religion  would  make  it  neces¬ 
sary  for  me  to  quit  the  law  and  take  to  divinity;  and 
for  that  time  this  consideration  prevailed.  I  concluded 
to  wait.  Satan  frequently  suggested  to  me  that  I 
should  live  to  see  the  millennium,  and  be  brought  in 


CONVERSION  TO  RELIGION 


37 


of  course.  As  the  repetition  of  the  ceremony  of  call¬ 
ing  out  the  anxious  had  destroyed  its  novelty,  its  ef¬ 
fect  on  the  last  day  was  not  sufficient  to  humble  my 
proud  heart. 

On  Saturday,  the  day  succeeding  the  meeting,  there 
remained  a  sort  of  solemnity  uporj  my  mind ;  but  I  was 
calm — calm  as  a  soldier  in  the  day  of  battle.  I  had 
deliberately  made  up  my_mind  to  continue  at  war  with 
God.  On  Sunday  I  went  to  meeting  in  the  morning, 
and  hear;d  a  sermon  directed  particularly  to  the  church, 
little  calculated  to  stir  up  the  tumult  of  mind  which 
was  fast  subsiding. 

Tn  the  afternoon  I  was  almost  sick  with  a  cold,  and 
stayed  ats  home.  I  took  medicine  and  went  to  bed, 
and  when  the  house  was  empty  and  all  was  still,  the 
thouglff  came  suddenly  and  forcibly  into  my  mind 

that  I  never  should  have  a  more  favorable  time  for 

* 

submitting  to  God.  The  severity  of  my  cold  suggested 
to  me  the  idea  of  the  uncertainty  of  life,  and  also 
seemed  to  be  sent  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  me  at 
home  for  a  few  days  till  I  could  humble  myself.  These 
thoughts' pressed  so  hard  upon  me  that  I  felt  as  if  the 
crisis  had  come,  and  my  destiny  was  to  be  decided.  I 
then,  after  some  hard  thinking,  determined  to  obtain 
religion,  and  ^immediately  set  about  conquering  my 
pride.  The  first  duty  which  presented  itself  was  that 
of  overcoming  my  fear  of  man,  and  though  it  was  like 
cutting  off  a  right  hand  God  enabled  me  to  resolve  and 
to  execute  the  resolution  of  communicating  to  Mother 
my  determination. 

After  resolving  to  relate  to  my  mother  my  feelings, 
I  pondered  in  my  mind  as  to  what  would  probably  be 


38  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

her  advice,  and  from  former  experience  I  knew  that 
she  would  bid  me  resort  to  prayer.  I  then  determined 
to  anticipate  her,  and  actually  bent  my  knees  and  of¬ 
fered  up  an  incoherent,  heartless  petition.  I  laid  be¬ 
fore  her  my  case  and  the  steps  I  had  taken,  and  she 
seemed  disposed  to  leave  me  entirely  to  myself. 

From  this  time  the  means  which  I  used  were  simply 
to  go  by  myself  at  stated  seasons,  and  force  myself  to 
meditate  on  the  character  of  God,  his  goodness,  his 
holiness,  the -requirements  of  his  word,  my  own  heath¬ 
enish  neglect  of  them,  and  the  absolute  necessity  of 
seeking  his  favor.  At  times  it  seemed  to  me  that  I 
had  lost  the  ground  I  had  gained,  and  I  felt  indifferent 
and  disposed  to  give  up  the  matter;  but  the  thought, 
that  truth  was  entirely  independent  of  my  vacillating 
feelings  and  that  the  things  of  God  were  still  as  true 
and  momentous  as  ever,  continually  drove  me  back  to 
the  conflict  which  I  had  begun.  Several  times  in  the 
course  of  the  following  day  I  read  the  Bible,  prayed 
and  meditated,  until  I  actually  sweat;  and  still  I  was 
calm  and  dispassionate.  I  shed  no  tears ;  I  felt  no  dis¬ 
position  to  mourn  on  account  of  sin;  and  tiffs  lack  of 
usual  sensibility  troubled  me  exceedingly. 

In  the  course  <of  the  afternoon  of  Monday  I  read 
the  Bible  to  Mother.  The  passage  was  Rom.  10:6-10,* 
and  while  I  read  it  I  made  an  effort  to  apply  it  to  my¬ 
self.  From  that  time  my  anxiety  diminished.  Before 
night  I  had  become  so  far  tranquil  that  I  began  se- 

*  “If  thou  shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  Jesus,  and 
shalt  believe  in  thine  heart  that  God  hath  raised  him  froni  the 
dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved.  For  with  the  heart  man  believeth 
unto  righteousness;  and  with  the  mouth  confession  is  made 
unto  salvation.” 


CONVERSION  TO  RELIGION 


39 


riously  to‘  fear  the  return  of  my  former  stupidity.  Ac¬ 
cordingly  the  next  day  I  set  about  my  old  work  of 
forcing  myself  into  convictions  with  renewed  vigor; 
but  I  could  not  succeed  in  producing  that  feeling  of 
despair  which  I  had  felt  before,  though  my  fears 
still  prevented  me  from  enjoying  myself.  When  I 
surveyed  and  compared  my  spiritual  views,  1  found 
to  my  surprise  an  entire  reversal  of  my  tastes  and 
affections.  The  Bible  seemed  a  new  treasure  of  preci¬ 
ous  thought;  Christians  seemed  kindred  spirits;  the 
matters  of  God  and  of  eternity  seemed  alone  worth 
attention.  When  at  last  I  was  told  by  an  experienced 
Christian  that  these  were  evidences  of  conversion,  I 
was  enabled  Vo  lay  hold  on  the  promises.  Light 
gleamed  upon  my  soul  in  a  different  way  from  what  I 
expected.  It  was  dim  and  almost  imperceptible  at  first, 
but  in  the  course  of  the  day  it  attained  meridian  splen¬ 
dor.  Ere  the  day  was  done  I  had  concluded  to  devote 
myself  to  the  service  and  ministry  of  God.  It  were  an 
endless  task  to  enumerate  the  thoughts  which  passed 
through  my  mind  during  several  succeeding  days. 
They  were,  as  usual  in  such  cases,  ecstatic.  I  had 
abundance  of  good  counsel,  and  from  it  by  the  bless¬ 
ing  of  God  received  an  impetus  in  the  Christian  race 
which  I  trust  I  shall  never  lose. 

John,  like  his  mother,  could  do  nothing  by  halves. 
When  his  mother  was  urging  him  to  attend  the  meet¬ 
ing,  his  reply  was:  “No,  I  do  not  wish  to  be  hurried. 
When  I  get  religion  it  will  not  be  in  a  hurry.”  But 
having  once  yielded  to  religion,  he  threw  his  whole 
soul  into  it.  With  much  joy  and  zeal  he  took  up  the 


40 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


study  of  the  Bible.  That  he  must  abandon  the  law 
and  become  a  minister  he  assumed  as  a  matter  of 
course,  and  at  once  commenced  the  preparatory  Hebrew 
studies  required  for  entrance  in  the  Andover  Theologi¬ 
cal  Seminary.  He  entered  fully  into  the  expectation 
of  the  times  that  the  reign  of  Christ  on  earth  was  at 
hand,  and  resolved  to  live  or  die  for  it.  Seeing  no 
reason  why  there  should  be  any  diminution  in  the 
vividness  and  ardor  of  his  religious  feelings,  he  vowed 
with  all  his  inward  strength  that  he  would  be  a  “young 
convert”  forever.  Meanwhile  to  his  friends  in  pri¬ 
vate  and  to  all  who  would  hear  him  in  public  meetings 
he  declared  his  new-found  faith. 

The  change  wrought  by  his  conversion  is  indicated 
by  a  number  of  interpolations  in  his  diary.  After  an 
entry  which  savored  of  the  world  he  writes:  “Sic 
quondam ,  aliter  nunc!”  Again:  “Hitherto  the  world, 
henceforth  God!”  In  another  place:  “Vanity  of  van¬ 
ity!”  At  the  end  of  the  poem  An  Invitation  to  an 
Evening  Walk ,  quoted  in  the  last  chapter,  he  writes: 
“These  three  verses  cost  me  an  hour  of  labor.  How 
much  better  would  that  hour  have  been  spent  in  fram¬ 
ing  a  hymn  of  praise  to  God!  How  much  nobler  a 
theme!  What  an  abundance  of  ideas!  What  will  be 
the  happiness  of  heaven,  when  we  shall  be  able  to  ex¬ 
press  our  gratitude  to  God  without  the  painful  efforts 
which  a  trivial  song  costs  us  in  this  grovelling  world ! 
Deo  volente ,  henceforth  I  will  employ  my  poetic  abili¬ 
ties  in  his  praise.”  Below  the  description  of  his  debut 
as  an  advocate  he  interpolates:  “This  was  the  first, 
and  probably  will  be  the  last  of  my  labors  in  the 
law.  I  shall  never  again  enter  into  the  feelings  which 


CONVERSION  TO  RELIGION 


41 


accompanied  this  first  effort.  I  look  back  to  them  as 
a  man,  who  has  done  with  this  world  and  is  preparing 
to  die,  looks  back  to  the  worldly  pursuits  to  which  he 
has  given  his  heart.  They  seem  like  the  senseless  eag¬ 
erness  of  children  for  the  toys  and  trifles  of  an  hour. 
May  I  ever  despise  them  as  I  do  now !” 


CHAPTER  VI 


LIFE  AT  ANDOVER 

Extracts  from  Diary 

July  i,  1832. — On  the  18th  of  September  1831  I 
hope  I  gave  my  heart  to  God.  There  was  much  of 
delight  and,  as  I  view  the  case  now,  much  of  sin  in  my 
first  spiritual  exercises.  I  became  so  much  absorbed  in 
meditation  on  the  goodness  of  God  and  on  the  novelty 
of  my  situation,  that  my  mind  seemed  to  lose  its  fac¬ 
ulty  of  self-control,  and  I  was  for  several  days  at  the 
mercy  of  my  imagination.  My  physical  system  sank 
under  the  intensity  and  protraction  of  the  discipline, 
and  I  was  forced  to  divert  my  mind  by  every  means 
in  my  power  from  reflection  on  religious  subjects. 
In  this  fact  I  can  see  a  reason  for  the  spiritual  de¬ 
clension  which  succeeded,  and  which  maintained  its 
dominion  over  me  during  the  following  winter. 

I  determined  from  the  first  to  become  by  the  per¬ 
mission  of  Providence  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  and 
commenced  soon  the  study  of  Hebrew.  My  health  was 
such  as  forbade  much  application  or  much  effort  of 
any  kind,  and  accordingly  I  came  to  Andover  on  the 
first  of  November  unprepared  to  enter  the  Seminary, 
and  in  a  state  of  spiritual  desolation.  However  my 
health  improved  by  the  diet  and  exercise  of  the  Semi¬ 
nary,  and  in  four  weeks  I  was  admitted  to  the  class 

42 


LIFE  AT  ANDOVER 


43 


and  began  to  feel  somewhat  encouraged  in  regard  to 
religious  matters.  My  habits  of  devotion  were  irregu¬ 
lar,  and  I  just  contrived  to  live  along,  as  I  may  say, 
from  hand  to  mouth,  with  my  understanding  convinced 
but  my  heart  and  practical  principles  at  variance  with 
it.  I  meditated  much  on  divine  things,  but  to  little 
profit. 

On  the  25th  of  December,  while  on  my  knees  in 
prayer,  I  devoted  myself  to  the  missionary  cause,  and 
then  after  a  long  interval  of  darkness  once  more  held 
sweet  communion  with  God.  From  this  time  my 
standard  of  Christian  duty  and  responsibility  began 
to  rise,  and  the  thought  for  the  first  time  began  to  de¬ 
velop  itself  that  I  must  habitually  live  entirely  for  the 
service  of  God. 

After  a  season  of  considerable  spiritual  enjoyment 
I  began  again  to  sink.  There  seemed  to  be  a  general 
declension  in  the  Seminary;  Disputes,  excitements, 
levity,  and  trifling  with  Scripture  and  sacred  things  be¬ 
came  exceedingly  prevalent  amongst  us,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  was  grieved  away.  I  seemed  under  a  constraint 
to  float  with  the  current,  and  lost  much  of  my  spiritu¬ 
ality  and  love  of  prayer  and  meditation. 

About  the  last  of  April,  after  a  tedious  session  of 
six  months,  I  returned  home.  There  I  had  leisure  and 
solitude,  and  in  view  of  my  backslidden  state  and  as  a 
preparation  for  uniting  with  the  church  I  gave  myself 
up  very  much  to  devotional  exercises.  I  found  much 
enjoyment  in  this,  and  I  trust  my  views  were  profit¬ 
ably  enlarged. 

On  the  13th  of  May  I  made  a  public  profession  of 
religion.  With  the  new  responsibilities  of  my  situa- 


44  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

tion  I  made  new  resolutions  of  devotedness  to  God, 
and  determined  no  longer  to  live  at  the  low-rate  piety 
which  is  so  common  in  the  Christian  church. 

I  returned  to  Andover  on  the  29th  of  May,  resolved 
to  commence  a  new  and  independent  course  of  life — 
to  set  myself  against  the  current  of  unhallowed  levity, 
which  during  the  previous  term  threatened  to  sweep 
away  the  last  vestige  of  piety  from  among  us.  By  the 
blessing  of  God  I  was  enabled  to  begin,  and  I  found  a 
satisfaction  in  confessing  my  sins,  and  expressing  to 
some  of  my  classmates,  especially  my  roommate,  my 
determination  in  regard  to  my  future  course.  I  found 
others  who  could  sympathize  with  me  in  opposition 
to  the  prevailing  sins  of  the  Seminary,  and  a  prayer 
meeting  was  established  with  a  view  to  effecting  our 
purpose.  I  have  enjoyed  much  in  those  meetings,  and 
we  trust  our  prayers  in  some  measure  have  been  an¬ 
swered. 

Having  sounded  the  minds  of  my  friends  at  home  in 
regard  to  my  becoming  a  missionary,  and  finding  no 
formidable  opposition,  I  no  longer  felt  any  hesitation 
about  declaring  my  intentions,  and  I  now  feel  that  I 
am  indeed  set  apart  for  that  work.  I  have  promised 
before  God,  angels  and  men  that  I  will  hold  myself 
ready  to  go>  into  the  foreign  service  when  and  where 
I  shall  be  called.  May  I  never  regret  the  promise, 
though  it  leads  me  to  the  stake! 

July  1,  1832,  Sabbath. — My  health  is  unexpectedly 
improved,  and  I  was  able  to  attend  and  enjoy  the  ex¬ 
ercises  of  God’s  house,  but  dared  not  exercise  my  mind 
much  for  fear  of  a  return  of  my  nervous  difficulties. 
In  this  state  of  body  it  is  almost  impossible  for  a  sin- 


LIFE  AT  ANDOVER 


43 


ner  of  my  stamp  to  live  near  to  God.  Nevertheless  I 
was  enabled  to  watch  my  heart,  and  to  feel  a  tender¬ 
ness  of  conscience  which  is  always  refreshing. 

July  4. — Was  greatly  troubled  about  my  state  by 
reading  the  account  of  Brainerd’s  conversion  and 
President  Edward’s  reflections  upon  it.  My  religion 
is  of  too  dubious  a  character  to  afford  me  much  com¬ 
fort,  and  yet  my  health  is  so  poor  that  I  cannot  con¬ 
scientiously  impose  upon  myself  the  effort  which  is 
necessary  to  faithful  self-examination,  though  I 
would  most  gladly  make  it,  if  my  body  would  bear  it. 
How  desperately  miserable  must  be  the  state  of  those 
who  postpone  all  consideration  of  the  subject  of  re¬ 
ligion  till  weakness  and  pain  warn  them  of  death ! 

July  8,  Sabbath. — Read  the  Bible  with  unusual 
relish  this  morning,  and  could  not  refrain  from  bless¬ 
ing  God  for  the  gift  of  so  precious  a  book.  Oh,  that 
I  might  have  more  of  its  spirit !  I  do  not  love  Christ 
with  that  sensible  affection  which  I  know  ought  to  fill 
my  soul  to  overflowing.  I  have  not  those  desires  for 
the  salvation  of  souls  which  seem  so  reasonable.  I 
have  not  that  sense  of  my  own  sinfulness  which  the 
Bible  commands,  and  that  unbending  abhorrence  of 
everything  opposed  to  holiness  which  God  requires. 
I  fear  there  is  much  hypocrisy  in  my  conversation  on 
these  subjects.  I  express  the  dictates  of  conscience 
and  understanding  as  the  feelings  of  my  heart.  I 
pass  off  for  zeal  that  which  perhaps  desire  of  applause 
produces.  O  God!  Cleanse  thou  me  from  secret 
faults. 

July  9. — I  remained  in  a  tender  and  prayerful  frame 
during  the  day,  but  in  the  evening  engaged  in  unprofit- 


46 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


able  and  wicked  conversation,  and  thus  fell  back  into 
a  state  of  darkness  and  insensibility.  Self-examina¬ 
tion  was  a  disagreeable  task. 

July  io. — Today  I  have  groaned  under  the  conse¬ 
quences  of  my  sin  of  yesterday.  Prayer  was  a  burden, 
and  additional  sin  brought  additional  darkness  and 
trouble  into  my  soul.  In  the  afternoon  I  searched  the 
Bible  and  the  library  in  regard  to  a  question  of  con¬ 
science,  and  found  beyond  a  doubt  that  I  had  been 
committing  a  heinous  sin.  I  was  never  more  deeply 
convicted  of  my  meanness ,  of  my  desperate  wicked¬ 
ness  before  God,  and  of  my  utter  impotence  to  resist 
temptation.  I  prayed,  I  wept;  and  I  trust  God  gave 
me  repentance.  Oh,  that  I  could  set  up  a  monument 
on  this  spot,  which  should  evermore  remind  me  of  my 
promises  before  God! 

July  12. — Had  a  miserable  night.  Dreamed  inces¬ 
santly  of  the  cholera,  and  found  myself  in  the  morning 
in  a  state  of  body  little  better  than  might  have  been 
produced  by  an  actual  attack  of  that  disease.  My  mind 
was  gloomy  at  first,  but  soon  assumed  a  worse  posi¬ 
tion,  that  of  forced,  miserable  merriment.  An  ex¬ 
cessive  dinner  dreadfully  increased  my  evils  of  body 
and  mind.  In  the  afternoon  I  consulted  Edwards  on 
the  religious  affections,  and  concluded  from  his  marks 
of  holiness  that  I  must  yet  be  in  the  gall  of  bitterness. 
And  still  after  all,  when  again  I  gave  myself  away  to 
Christ,  I  could  not  help  trusting  that  God  would  yet 
work  in  me  to  will  and  to  do  his  good  pleasure.  I 
groan  under  the  bondage  of  old  habits.  I  am  now  in 
my  desires  and  propensities  just  what  twenty  years  of 
wickedness  have  made  me.  And  my  wickedness  was 


LIFE  AT  ANDOVER 


47 


of  no  ordinary  dye.  It  was  in  some  measure  philo¬ 
sophical,  calculating;  and  for  that  reason  the  more 
ruinous.  It  was  spiritual  wickedness,  and  it  has  in¬ 
terwoven  itself  with  all  the  elements  of  my  moral 
nature.  I  pried  into  the  secrets  and  curious  mysteries 
of  historical  and  supposable  guilt,  and  imbibed  all  the 
poisonous  associations  of  such  investigations  with  rel¬ 
ish  and  delight ;  and  now  I  reap  the  fruit,  bitter  indeed. 
I  cannot  send  abroad  my  thoughts  in  any  direction 
without  crossing  the  track  of  some  polluted  image,  and 
a  thousand  needless  suggestions  of  impurity  occur 
daily  to  blast  my  endeavors  after  holiness. 

July  25. — I  rejoiced  in  the  blessed  influences  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  my  morning  devotions.  I  felt  new  joy 
in  the  thought  that  “the  Lord  reigneth,”  and  that  he 
knows  all  things,  and  will  assuredly  do  all  things  right. 
If  God  did  not  know  all  things,  I  should  be  ruined,  for 
I  find  my  wickedness  perpetually  assuming  some  new 
and  subtle  form,  and  I  must  believe  there  is  a  laby¬ 
rinth  of  iniquity  in  my  heart  which  would  baffle  every¬ 
thing  short  of  omniscience.  But  blessed  be  God,  the 
blood  of  Christ  cleanseth  from  all  sin,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  will  search  out  and  slay  every  sin.  I  am  un¬ 
profitable  and  barren  from  day  to  day,  and  I  would 
fain  impute  it  to  my  ill-health  ;  but  I  fear  the  disease 
lies  deeper  than  the  body.  I  must  try  once  more  to 
combine  spirituality  with  that  cheerfulness  which  is 
necessary  to  health.  I  have  been  hearing  some  of 

Brother  E - ’s  experience  this  evening.  He  says 

he  sometimes  feels  as  if  he  would  prefer  to  sink  into 
his  grave  rather  than  commit  the  least  sin.  He  is  en¬ 
tirely  beyond  my  depth.  He  is  despised  even  by  “The 


48 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


Brethren”  for  his  recluse  habits,  but  I  wish  I  had  more 
of  his  self-denial  and  spirituality. 

July  2 6. — A  new  resolution  is  hardly  worth  men¬ 
tioning,  I  have  broken  so  many;  but  I  put  it  down, 
that  it  may  sometime  administer  reproof.  I  promised 
before  God  this  night  that  I  would  institute  a  thorough 
reformation  in  my  Christian  practice.  May  his  spirit 
assist! 

July  28. — God  granted  me  (I  trust  in  mercy)  a  new 
view  of  the  wickedness  of  my  heart  this  morning.  I 
had  begun  to'  imagine  myself  full  of  faith  and  wholly 
reconciled  to  the  character  and  providence  of  God.  I 
was  meditating  on  the  love  of  Christ  expressed  in  the 
passage :  ‘‘My  mother  and  my  brethren  are  these  who 
hear  the  word  of  God,  and  do  it.”  I  was  trying  to 
measure  Christ’s  affection  by  that  which  I  know  my 
mother  bears  towards  me.  The  leaven  of  pride  began 
to  work,  and  the  thought  suggested  itself  to  me  that 
all  my  views  are  selfish.  So  I  endeavored  to  try  the 
virtue  of  my  faith  by  placing  some  interest  of  mine 
in  competition  with  the  government  of  God.  I  asked 
myself,  Can  I  consign  a  certain  impenitent  friend,  for 
whom  I  have  long  prayed,  to  eternal  burnings  without 
murmuring,  if  it  be  the  will  of  God?  Alas!  How 
quickly  was  the  whole  aspect  of  my  soul  changed !  The 
peace  and  blessedness  which  I  had  hoped  would  be 
perpetual  were  gone,  and  rebellion  usurped  their  place. 
And  yet  it  seemed  involuntary  rebellion.  My  wish  was 
to  feel  a  calm,  holy,  unreserved  confidence  in  God; 
but  I  found  within  me  seeds  of  mutiny  which  I  had  not 
suspected,  and  I  felt  that  nothing  but  the  spirit  which 
first  subdued  my  heart  could  overcome  this  newly  dis- 


LIFE  AT  ANDOVER 


49 


covered  enemy.  I  prayed  with  agony  for  deliverance, 
and  finally,  though  peace  was  not  wholly  restored,  I 
could  say:  “Lord,  I  will  lay  hold  on  Thy  hand,  and 
be  guided  by  Thee,  though  our  path  shall  lie  through 
fire  and  blood.  I  will  believe  in  Thy  goodness  at  all 
events.” 

July  29,  Sabbath. — My  trouble  for  some  days  past 
has  been  this :  I  fear  I  think  too  much  about  the  re¬ 
wards  of  heaven.  I  seem  to  indulge  an  unhallowed 
ambition  to  stand  eminent  in  the  ranks  of  heaven, 
and  I  dislike  the  thought  of  death  because  it  will  cut 
me  off  from  an  opportunity  of  laying  up  a  store  of  good 
works.  This  last  feeling  has  given  me  especial  trouble, 
because  it  is  inconsistent  with  a  perfect  resignation  to 
the  will  of  God.  I  desire  to  feel,  as  I  shall  if  I  ever 
get  to  heaven,  that  it  is  a  wonder  if  I  escape  hell.  I 
shall  think  more  of  Christ  then. 

July  30. — I  have  thought  much  of  my  sins  today, 
especially  the  sins  of  my  boyish  days.  When  I  look 
back  and  see  what  an  ocean  of  impurity  and  vice  I 
have  waded  through,  I  almost  wonder  I  was  not  cut 
down,  though  the  mercy  of  God  is  infinite.  It  makes 
me  start  and  sweat  with  horror  to  remember  crimes 
which  I  committed  with  exultation,  for  which  the  jail 
should  have  been  my  portion.  Mischievous  thefts 
and  lying  were  among  the  most  glorious  of  my  boyish 
exploits,  and  because  there  was  ludicrous  roguery  and 
wit  in  them,  instead  of  being  occasions  of  disgrace  and 
remorse  they  were  actually  matters  of  boasting.  And 
even  my  riper  years  have  been  marked  not  merely  by 
general  impiety  but  by  positive  and  shameful  crime, 
which  reason  as  well  as  conscience  condemn.  But  there 


50 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


is  still  an  account  behind,  blacker  even  than  these. 
Since  God  has  convinced  me  of  his  goodness,  I  have 
committed  over  and  over  again  deliberate,  flagrant 
wickedness,  and  scarcely  a  day  escapes  the  stain  of 
some  heaven-daring  sin.  This  very  day,  on  which  I 
resolved  to  “keep  my  heart  with  all  diligence,”  has  sent 
at  least  three  special  messages  of  wrath  to  the  judg¬ 
ment  record,  besides  the  long  list  of  common  besetting 
and  negative  sins.  Pride  has  been  the  warp  of  this 
day’s  web.  I  think  I  shall  say  with  the  martyrs  in  the 
day  of  my  death:  “None  but  Christ,  none  but  Christ!” 

July  31. — In  the  afternoon  the  sweet  influences  of 
the  spirit  of  God  seemed  to  be  withdrawn  in  some 
measure,  as  if  to  convince  me  that  I  have  no  moral 
power  of  myself.  I  could  remember  the  blessedness 
and  peace  of  former  seasons,  when  God  seemed  near 
to  my  soul.  I  could  mourn  their  absence ;  I  could  de¬ 
sire  and  pray  for  their  return;  but  my  efforts  to  re¬ 
cover  them — to  feel  right — were  plainly  impotent.  I 
know  that  God  must  work  in  me  to  will  and  to  do  of 
his  good  pleasure,  or  I  shall  sink  forever. 

August  5,  Sabbath. — “A  day  of  darkness  and  of 
gloominess;  a  day  of  clouds  and  thick  darkness.”  I 
have  not  despaired  of  heaven,  but  I  have  had  fearful 
evidence  that  I  must  have  help  from  omnipotence  if 
I  ever  get  there.  My  heart,  even  if  it  could  be  deliv¬ 
ered  from  the  curse  of  active  malignity,  must  forever 
bear  the  coldness  and  insensibility  of  death  without  the 
spirit  of  God.  I  have  passed  through  all  the  interest¬ 
ing  exercises  and  privileges  of  this  day  without  one 
warm  feeling  of  love  for  Christ,  gratitude  to  God, 
benevolence  to  man ;  and  all  the  while  I  have  been  chas- 


LIFE  AT  ANDOVER 


51 


tising  myself,  in  hopes  of  scourging  myself  into  right 
feelings.  I  have  known  perhaps  more  clearly  than 
ever  before  what  ought  to  be  the  state  of  my  affec¬ 
tions,  but  my  heart  has  exhibited  all  the  barrenness, 
if  not  the  enmity  of  impenitence. 

I  have  been  wishing  today  I  could  devise  some  new 
way  of  sanctification — some  patent — some  specific  for 
sin,  whereby  the  curse  should  be  exterminated  once 
for  all.  And  in  time  past  I  have  sometimes  thought 
I  had  discovered  this  desirable  catholicon;  but  I  al¬ 
ways  found  that  just  as  I  thought  my  disease  was 
cured,  it  would  break  out  like  a  cancer  in  some  other 
spot.  Lord,  help  me  to  be  willing  to  be  saved  by  Thee. 

August  6. — Had  a  season  of  sorrow  in  my  morning 
devotions.  In  view  of  the  hardness  of  my  heart,  and 
the  smallness  of  the  evidence  which  I  have  of  being 
regenerated,  I  could  only  lie  at  the  foot  of  the  cross, 
and  beg  for  repentance,  for  faith,  for  love.  I  set  apart 
this  day  for  secret  fasting  and  prayer,  and  God  has 
blessed  my  soul.  There  was  a  time  in  the  afternoon 
when  I  thought  I  could  say,  I  love  God.  At  any  rate 
there  was  a  tenderness  of  soul  which  I  always  hail  as 
the  effect  of  the  Holy  Spirit’s  influences.  I  had  a 
spirit  of  prayer  for  the  heathen  such  as  has  been  a 
stranger  to  me  for  a  long  time.  As  I  read  the  Mission¬ 
ary  Herald  I  yearned  for  perishing  souls,  and  longed 
to  be  in  the  field.  In  the  evening  I  had  a  singular  sea¬ 
son  of  prayer.  Being  alone  I  paced  the  room,  and  as 
I  meditated  on  divine  things  I  began  to  address  God, 
and  found  it  pleasant  to  commune  with  him,  I  trust 
with  reverence,  yet  in  the  manner  rather  cf  conversa¬ 
tion  than  formal  prayer.  I  talked  over  my  want  of 


52 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


faith  and  feeling.  I  drew  out  and  exposed  freely  all 
the  deceitfulness  of  my  heart  which  I  could  lay  hands 
upon,  such  as  humble  pride,  selfish  benevolence,  and 
love  of  holiness  because  it  is  necessary  as  an  evidence 
of  being  in  a  state  of  justification.  I  appealed  to  the 
omniscience  of  God  for  my  sincerity,  whether  my 
heart  was  renewed  or  not.  In  short  I  spent  an  hour 
as  it  were  in  immediate  personal  conversation  with 
God,  and  I  think  I  gained  strength  and  encourage¬ 
ment. 

August  7. — I  have  met  with  divers  occasions  of 
special  gratitude  to  God  today,  but  I  fear  their  effect 
has  been  to  minister  to  my  pride.  Any  little  atten¬ 
tions  from  those  around  me  which  indicate  that  I  am 
held  in  favorable  estimation  among  them  light  up  in 
my  bosom  an  unhallowed  flame  which  hours  of  chas¬ 
tisement  and  sorrow  cannot  quench. 

August  11. — Had  more  evidence  today  that  I  am 
backsliding,  and  made  some  struggles  against  the  cur¬ 
rent.  I  intend  to  maintain  this  struggle  till  holiness 
shall  become  the  element  of  my  rational  existence ;  and 
if  I  cannot  hold  a  place  near  enough  to  Jesus  to  enable 
me  to1  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  I  desire  I  may  have  grace 
to  plod  on  my  way  fighting  and  mourning. 

August  14. — Nothing  interesting  in  my  feelings  in 
the  forenoon.  I  was  entirely  dissatisfied  and  disgusted 
with  the  worldly  state  of  my  soul.  It  is  my  misery  to 
be  able  to  conceive  distinctly  how  a  warm-hearted 
Christian,  how  Christ  himself  would  act  in  my  situ¬ 
ation,  and  yet  to>  find  myself  morally  impotent  in  re¬ 
gard  to  attaining  that  ideal  standard.  Oh,  how 
wretched  is  an  unprayerful  frame  of  mind  joined  with 


LIFE  AT  ANDOVER 


53 


a  wakeful  conscience !  O  Lord,  if  thou  canst  not  draw, 
drive  me  to  Thyself. 

August  15. — A  sore  remembrance  of  our  conversa¬ 
tion  last  night  [i.e a  heated  discussion  with  one  of  the 
students]  remained  upon  my  mind  this  morning.  I 
fought  the  battle  over  again,  and  saw  with  mortifica¬ 
tion  how  Satan  had  obtained  an  advantage  over  me 
at  every  turn.  The  consequence  was  humility,  or  its 
counterfeit,  wounded  pride;  for  I  cannot  answer  for 
the  genuineness  of  any  of  the  exercises  of  my  heart. 
I  looked  back  with  shame,  and  forward  with  gloom. 
I  seemed  to  be  shut  up  to  the  Christian  path,  for  in 
every  other  direction  hell  yawns  to  devour;  and  yet 
I  groaned  at  the  thought  of  staggering  along  in  the 
way  I  have  done,  and  have  the  prospect  of  doing  all 
my  life. 

August  16. — I  was  inclined  to  melancholy  today, 
and  my  feelings  sometimes  assumed  the  posture  of 
positive  dissatisfaction  with  myself  and  all  around 
me.  If  charity  for  the  faults  of  Christians  grows 
with  growth  in  grace,  I  am  backsliding.  I  cannot  help 
wondering  and  grieving  at  the  worldliness  and  pride 
and  unholy  ambition,  which  I  see  every  hour  in  my 
brethren.  I  find  too  I  grow  eagle-eyed  about  such 
things — a  bad  sign  I  fear;  so  says  Brother  Nichols, 
so  says  President  Edwards.  I  wonder  what  would 
become  of  me,  if  God  were  as  uncharitable  and  impa¬ 
tient  as  I  am.  I  must  surely  crucify  this  sin. 

August  19,  Sabbath. — In  the  afternoon  I  tried  to 
repent  and  humble  myself  before  God,  but  found  again 
that  without  help  from  heaven  I  am  impotent.  I 
thought  at  one  time  I  had  given  up  everything,  and 


54  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

was  willing  to  live  only  for  God.  But  when  I  looked 
once  more  at  my  great  pattern,  and  asked  myself 
what  he  would  do  in  my  situation,  I  found  I  had  not 
given  up  all.  Though  I  might  be  willing  to  forego  a 
thousand  pleasures,  to  give  up  father  and  mother  and 
brother  and  sister,  to  deny  myself  and  crucify  my 
lusts,  to  fast  and  pray  and  study  even  to  the  extent 
of  human  ability,  yet  I  found  myself  shrinking  back 
from  undertaking  that  ceaseless  activity  of  benevo¬ 
lence  here  on  the  spot,  which  I  knew  Christ  would 
exhibit.  I  can  vie  with  monks  in  passive  piety,  but 
to  be  an  active  Christian  is  another  thing. 

August  22. — Had  a  quarrel  with  myself  this  morn¬ 
ing  about  an  old  affair  of  my  imprudence  and  sin, 
which  came  up  to  my  mind  in  all  its  freshness  and 
force.  I  found  a  proud,  angry,  self-justifying  spirit 
drawn  out  by  the  mere  operation  of  memory  and  im¬ 
agination  to  a  most  alarming  extent.  The  wicked¬ 
ness  and  hypocrisy  and  selfishness  also  of  the  motives 
which  govern  me  in  my  best  actions  were  set  before 
me  in  frightful  array.  I  sweat  also  several  times  in 
the  course  of  the  day  at  the  remembrance  of  certain 
guilty  passages  in  the  history  of  my  youth.  If  God 
should  punish  and  humble  me  by  divulging  them  to  the 
world,  my  cup  would  be  a  bitter  one  indeed.  But  they 
will  be  disclosed  to  an  assembled  universe.  O  Savior 
of  sinners!  Canst  thou  stay  the  glittering  sword  of 
justice?  Thou  hast  found  a  ransom - - 

Notwithstanding  his  seeming  impotence  in  the 
struggle  against  sin,  John  is  by  no  means  a  fatalist. 
He  has  clearly  in  mind  the  fact  that,  since  God  freely 


LIFE  AT  ANDOVER 


55 


offers  his  help  to  all,  salvation  can  and  must  be  won 
by  individual  initiative  and  effort.  “There  is  nothing 
in  my  circumstances,”  he  writes,  “nor  in  the  limitation 
of  the  grace  of  God,  that  would  prevent  my  becoming 
as  holy  and  devoted  a  man  as  St.  Paul.”  Nor  does 
he  believe  that  salvation  depends  upon  ability  to  grapple 
with  psychological  difficulties  that  are  beyond  the  ken 
of  the  ordinary  intellect.  On  the  contrary  he  says: 
“I  cannot  believe  that  the  path,  which  God  has  de¬ 
clared  is  so  plain  that  a  wayfaring  man,  though  a  fool, 
need  not  err  therein,  is  beset  on  every  hand  with  meta¬ 
physical  traps  and  snares.  I  believe  his  grace  is  free, 
abundant,  and  accessible;  and  self-deception  is  but 
insincerity  or  carelessness,  not  a  calamity  resulting 
from  the  mystery  of  God’s  grace.”  With  these  views 
John  cannot  give  way  to  discouragement,  nor  relax 
his  efforts.  Though  beaten  down  and  almost  destroyed 
time  after  time  in  his  battle  against  sin,  he  nevertheless 
struggles  again  to  his  feet,  and  renews  the  fight. 

In  consequence  of  his  missionary  pledge  John  came 
into  connection  with  a  select  society  at  Andover  called 
“The  Brethren,”  which  was  composed  of  students  who 
had  pledged  themselves  to  go  on  foreign  missions. 
One  of  the  exercises  of  this  society  was,  that  each  mem¬ 
ber  in  turn  should  listen  silently  while  the  other  mem¬ 
bers  told  him  plainly  his  faults  with  a  view  to  helping 
him  improve.  John  submitted  to  this  ordinance,  and 
found  it  so  helpful  that  he  later  introduced  it  in  the 
Oneida  Community.  There  under  the  name  of  “mu¬ 
tual  criticism”  the  practice  was  greatly  expanded  and 
became  one  of  the  principal  means  of  government. 

As  to  the  regular  studies  in  the  Andover  Seminary, 


56 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


the  chief  was  biblical  exegesis  under  Professor  Moses 
Stuart,  who  was  then  regarded  as  the  foremost  exe- 
getical  teacher  in  America.  As  we  shall  see  later,  Pro¬ 
fessor  Stuart’s  interpretation  of  two'  disputed  pas¬ 
sages  of  Scripture  had  a  marked  influence  in  determin¬ 
ing  John’s  theological  opinions. 

But  the  principal  benefit  which  John  derived  while 
at  Andover  was  from  studying  the  Bible  without  note 
or  commentary,  according  to  a  method  of  his  own. 
His  method  was  to-  select  some  trait  in  the  charac¬ 
ter  of  Christ,  or  some  spiritual  truth,  and  with  this 
in  mind  read  the  four  gospels  through  at  a  sitting 
noting  down  every  passage  which  bore  on  the  subject. 
He  would  then  read  over  his  notes,  reflect  upon  them, 
and  endeavor  to  obtain  a  clear  and  comprehensive  view 
of  the  trait  or  truth  selected  for  study.  In  this  man¬ 
ner  he  went  through  the  four  gospels  almost  daily  for 
months.  Then  he  applied  the  same  method  to  the 
epistles.  By  this  means  he  acquired  an  astonishing 
familiarity  with  the  New  Testament.  If  almost  any 
passage  were  read,  he  could  give  the  chapter  and  verse ; 
or  if  chapter  and  verse  were  given,  he  could  recite  the 
passage. 

As  the  school  year  drew  toward  its  close,  John  was 
much  troubled  over  the  question  whether  to  finish  his 
theological  course  at  Andover,  or  go  to  New  Haven. 
The  first  year  at  Andover  was  regarded  as  superior, 
while  the  doctrinal  studies  later  were  not  considered 
equal  to  those  given  at  New  Haven  under  Dr.  Taylor. 
Moreover  the  want  of  spirituality  at  Andover  was  in 
John’s  mind  a  powerful  reason  for  making  the  change. 
On  the  other  side  of  the  account  were  the  matters  of 


LIFE  AT  ANDOVER 


57 


expense,  the  sacrificing  of  established  connections,  and 
the  conservative  solidity  of  the  course  at  the  older 
seminary.  John  balanced  the  pros  and  cons  of  this 
question  for  days  without  being  able  to  arrive  at  any 
conclusion.  At  last  in  his  perplexity,  while  praying 
for  guidance,  it  occurred  to  him  to  try  opening  the 
Bible.  Without  much  expectation  of  help  he  opened 
the  book  at  random,  and  the  first  passage  that  met  his 
eyes  was  Matthew  28:5-6:  “Fear  not  ye;  for  I  know 
that  ye  seek  Jesus  which  was  crucified.  He  is  not 
here.”  The  coincidence  between  this  passage  and  the 
facts  as  he  had  observed  them  broke  the  deadlock  of 
his  motives  and  he  determined  to  go  to  New  Haven. 


CHAPTER  VII 


THEOLOGICAL  COURSE  AT  NEW  HAVEN 

At  the  end  of  August  1832  John  entered  the  middle 
class  of  the  Yale  Theological  Seminary  at  New  Haven, 
Connecticut.  Here  the  general  tone  of  his  experience 
underwent  another  marked  change,  for  whereas  at 
Andover  he  was  mainly  occupied  with  subjective  exer¬ 
cises,  at  New  Haven  we  find  him  plunging  with  great 
ardor  into  objective  Christian  work. 

One  enterprise,  to  which  in  his  new  ambition  he 
devoted  himself,  was  the  cause  of  antislavery.  He 
immediately  became  much  engaged  in  religious  work 
among  the  negroes  of  New  Haven;  and  in  the  winter 
of  1832-3  he  joined  with  “Hardware  Dwight”  and  a 
number  of  other  radicals  in  founding  the  New  Haven 
Antislavery  Society,  one  of  the  first  antislavery  so¬ 
cieties  to  be  formed  in  America. 

Another  enterprise  which  called  out  his  enthusiasm 
was  the  organization  of  the  New  Haven  Free 
Church.  One  result  of  the  revival  fervor  throughout 
the  country  was  the  formation  of  so-called  “free 
churches,”  in  which  the  more  zealous  members  of  all 
the  regular  denominations  gathered.  The  free  churches 
were  frankly  devoted  to  revivals,  and  made  use  of 
measures  which  were  startling  and  repugnant  to  “dead 
orthodoxy.”  There  was  the  nucleus  of  a  free  church 

58 


COURSE  AT  NEW  HAVEN 


59 


at  New  Haven,  and  John  with  his  revival  zeal  soon 
came  into  connection  with  it.  When  he  first  joined, 
there  were  less  than  a  dozen  members,  only  one  of 
whom  had  any  property  or  weight  of  character,  and 
no  regular  pastor  was  employed.  As  time  went  on  the 
membership  increased,  and  the  leaders  began  to  look 
around  for  a  successful  revivalist  whom  they  could  put 
in  charge  of  the  work.  During  the  winter  vacation  of 

1832- 3  John  had  become  acquainted  with  James  Boyle, 
a  powerful  preacher  who  was  then  conducting  a  revival 
in  Brattleboro;  and  when  the  question  of  engaging  a 
pastor  for  the  Free  Church  came  up,  John  urgently 
recommended  Mr.  Boyle.  Accordingly  the  position 
was  offered  to  him,  and  was  accepted.  Boyle  came  to 
New  Haven  and  assumed  his  duties  as  pastor  in  March 

1833- 

In  the  summer  of  1833  John  experienced  a  great 
increase  of  faith  in  prayer.  In  consequence  of  this 
he  came  perilously  near  trouble  with  the  college  au¬ 
thorities.  One  of  his  fellow-students,  who  was  not 
very  friendly  to  him  or  his  views,  asked  him  one  day, 
what  he  thought  of  the  prayers  which  President  Day 
offered  in  chapel  every  night  and  morning.  John  re¬ 
plied,  that  in  his  opinion  they  were  “very  good  moral 
discourses — edifying  religious  talk — but  no  prayers  at 
all.”  The  remark  was  reported  to  the  faculty,  and 
John  received  an  admonitory  call  from  Tutor  Day, 
a  nephew  of  the  President.  He  admitted  that  the 
remark  was  indiscreet,  and  the  matter  was  dropped. 

In  August  1833  John’s  class  received  their  licenses 
to  preach.  In  the  course  of  the  examinations  John 
was  drawn  into  two  warm  controversies  with  his  pro- 


60 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


fessors;  one  with  Dr.  Bacon  on  faith  in  prayer,  and 
the  other  with  Dr.  Taylor  on  the  double  sense  of  Scrip¬ 
ture.  Notwithstanding  his  heretical  tendencies  he  re¬ 
ceived  his  license  with  the  rest  of  the  class. 

It  was  customary  among  theological  students  to 
spend  considerable  time  during  the  last  year  of  their 
course  “candidating, ”  as  it  was  called :  acquiring  ex¬ 
perience  of  actual  church  work  by  performing  the 
duties  of  pastor  in  congregations  where  a  regular  pas¬ 
tor  was  lacking.  Accordingly  for  nine  weeks  after 
his  final  examinations  John  officiated  as  pastor  of  a 
church  at  North  Salem,  New  York,  a  small  village 
about  eighteen  miles  east  of  Peekskill.  The  following 
extracts  from  his  diary  give  a  glimpse  of  this  episode 
in  his  career : 

Aug.  1 8. — In  the  evening  I  preached  a  written 
sermon,  and  resolved  never  to  do  so  again  unless  by 
absolute  necessity.  A  dozen  times  in  the  course  of 
my  sermon  I  was  ready  to  lay  aside  my  notes,  and 
throw  my  soul  into  my  mouth;  but  I  plodded  through, 
and  closed  with  an  extemporaneous  appeal  which  was 
worth  more  to  me  than  all  the  rest. 

Aug.  25,  Sabbath. — In  the  forenoon  went  to  the 
meeting-house  at  the  usual  hour  for  meeting,  and 
found  nobody  there.  I  waited  more  than  half  an 
hour,  and  at  last  a  little  handful  collected.  I  was 
wickedly  discouraged.  Preached  on  the  law.  It  was 
hard  work.  The  service  dragged,  and  I  was  ready  to 
give  up  in  despair. 

In  the  afternoon  a  larger  assembly  collected,  and 
I  went  about  my  work  with  more  heart  and  humility. 


COURSE  AT  NEW  HAVEN 


61 


Preached  on  justification  by  faith,  and  found  my 
mouth  full.  I  blundered  some,  but  on  the  whole  was 
greatly  encouraged  to  hope  that  I  shall  yet  be  enabled 
to  speak  boldly  and  prevailingly  for  God. 

In  the  evening  preached  on  the  difference  between 
the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  and  again  was  abun¬ 
dantly  encouraged.  The  audience  was  respectable, 
and  my  heart  was  enlarged.  I  am  sure  I  gave  the 
church  a  faithful  exhortation,  and  it  was  to  me  a 
solemn  and  delightful  meeting.  I  returned  to  my  room 
and  to  my  bed  much  fatigued,  but  far  less  so  than  I 
expected,  and  withal  happy. 

For  the  first  time  today  I  have  performed  the  Sab¬ 
bath  duties  of  a  minister.  It  is  wonderful  to  think 
how  God  has  strengthened  me.  A  year  ago  my  nerves 
were  so  sensitive,  and  my  voice  so  weak,  that  an  eve¬ 
ning  meeting  would  spoil  me  for  the  succeeding  day, 
and  I  had  no*  expectation  of  ever  being  strong  enough 
to  preach  extemporaneously  three  times  in  a  day.  Now 
it  actually  does  me  good  to  preach.  My  nerves  are 
quiet,  my  voice  grows  strong  by  exercise,  and  I  felt 
better  today  when  I  had  finished  than  when  I  began. 
Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul ! 

Aug.  27. — After  breakfast  this  morning  Mr.  Lock- 
wood  came  to  my  room,  and  gave  me  another  lecture 
about  Taylorism.  He  says,  there  were  some  things  in 
my  sermon  Sunday  afternoon,  which  he  feels  himself 
bound  as  an  elder  of  the  church  to  reprobate.  I  was 
a  long  time  puzzled  to  think,  what  there  could  be  in 
my  discourse  that  he  could  deem  heretical.  At  last 
by  his  help  I  found  out,  that  he  disliked  my  comparing 
the  sinner’s  condition  to  that  of  a  drunkard.  In  il- 


62  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

lustrating  the  idea  that  faith  in  Christ  implies  the  giv¬ 
ing  up  of  all  sin,  I  had  taken  the  case  of  a  drunkard 
who  concludes  to  give  up  his  cups;  but  knowing  that 
his  bare  resolution  will  never  secure  him,  he  makes 
another  man  his  guardian,  puts  his  property  into  his 
hands,  and  commits  himself  wholly  to  his  disposal; 
and  his  guardian  covenants  to1  deliver  him  from  his 
ruinous  habit.  Thus  he  virtually  in  the  first  act  of 
abandonment  gives  up  the  whole  habit,  because  the 
covenant  he  then  makes  covers  the  whole  ground.  So 
the  sinner  in  putting  himself  wholly  in  the  hands  of 
God  virtually  gives  up  all  sin,  because  the  covenant  he 
makes  with  God  covers  the  whole  ground,  and  will 
certainly  secure  him  from  the  power  of  sin.  Mr. 
Lockwood  thought  this  a  poor  foundation  for  the  per¬ 
severance  of  the  saints.  We  had  a  very  warm  dis¬ 
cussion,  or  dispute  it  might  be  called,  although  I  told 
him  before  we  began,  I  thought  a  dispute  in  any  case 
worse  than  nothing.  I  suspect  he  is  almost  sorry  he 
sent  for  me  to  come  here  and  preach.  He  is  much 
afraid  of  the  Presbytery,  and  I  think  myself  from 
what  I  can  learn,  that  there  is  reason  to  expect  diffi¬ 
culty.  I  am  in  the  midst  of  a  domineering  set  of 
ministers.  I  had  no  idea  before,  that  this  land  of  lib¬ 
erty  was  cursed  with  such  spiritual  domination.  Well, 
I  must  keep  cool  and  quiet,  and  move  straight  forward 
as  long  as  Satan  will  let  me,  and  then  I  must  flee  to 
some  other  city.  But  God  forbid,  that  I  should  for¬ 
bear  to  declare  his  whole  counsel  for  the  fear  of  man. 
The  servant  of  the  Lord  must  not  strive,  and  yet  he 
must  preach  the  gospel  of  God  boldly  and  “with  much 
contention.” 


COURSE  AT  NEW  HAVEN 


63 


Sept.  3. — Spent  the  morning  in  studying  “the  mind 
of  Christ,”  and  was  permitted  to  see  more  of  his  glory 
than  I  have  ever  seen  before.  I  walked  out  over  the 
hills,  and  in  the  solitude  of  the  forest  under  the  canopy 
of  heaven  poured  out  my  soul  unto  God,  and  wept  for 
joy.  My  peace  was  as  a  river.  I  could  only  exclaim: 
“Oh,  what  a  glorious  Christ  is  mine!” 

Sept.  29,  Sabbath. — Was  wonderfully  pressed  in 
the  spirit  this  morning.  The  word  of  the  Lord  was  as 
a  fire  shut  up  in  my  bones,  and  I  longed  to  speak  to 
sinners.  I  knew  somebody  was  praying  for  me.  I 
preached  in  the  forenoon  with  great  enlargement  on 
the  case  of  the  amiable  young  man.  After  meeting 

Mrs.  T -  walked  home  with  me,  and  I  tried  with 

all  my  might  to  bring  her  to  submission.  We  prayed 
together.  She  seemed  willing  to  give  up  all,  and  I 
hope  did  so;  but  the  Lord  only  knows.  In  the  after¬ 
noon  I  preached  from  the  text:  “How  can  we  escape, 
if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation?”  After  service  I 

talked  again  with  Mrs.  T - ,  and  with  a  Miss 

H - ,  who  seemed  to  be  serious.  They  both  prom¬ 

ised  they  would  seek  salvation.  Also  I  had  a  con¬ 
versation  with  one  of  Mrs.  B - ’s  daughters.  In 

the  evening  I  preached  from  the  text:  “How  long  halt 
ye?”  and  was  greatly  assisted.  The  audience  was 
larger  than  usual,  and  very  solemn.  After  the  dis¬ 
course  I  called  upon  those  who  were  determined  to  a 
decision  to  arise.  One  young  man  arose,  but  I  had  no 
opportunity  of  conversation  with  him.  This  has  been 
a  glorious  day.  God  has  seemed  to  give  me  a  token 
of  his  coming.  I  can  hardly  realize  that  he  has  al¬ 
ready  awakened  some  by  my  instrumentality.  The 


64 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


way  of  the  Lord  is  prepared  in  some  measure  in  the 
hearts  of  his  people.  Christians  are  praying,  and  sin¬ 
ners  will  soon  lie  weeping. 

Oct.  14. — Spent  the  forenoon  in  making  farewell 
visits ;  melancholy  but  pleasant  business.  I  found  my¬ 
self  more  interested  in  the  people  than  I  expected,  or 
was  aware  of;  and  on  a  review  of  my  sojourn  I  have 
great  reason  to  bless  God  for  sending  me  here.  I  hope 
my  labors  have  not  been  in  vain  to  others.  I  know 
they  have  not  been  to  myself.  I  have  learned  more 
about  the  Bible  and  about  human  nature  during  the 
past  nine  weeks  than  during  all  my  theological  course. 

While  John  was  at  North  Salem,  his  sister  Joanna 
came  on  from  Putney  bringing  the  tidings  that  Mary, 
Horatio  and  George  had  all  become  Christians. 
Joanna  was  on  her  way  to  Glens  Falls,  New  York, 
to  visit  Elizabeth,  who  resided  there  with  her  hus¬ 
band,  Dr.  Ransom;  and  she  persuaded  John  to  accom¬ 
pany  her,  wedging  the  trip  in  between  two  Sabbaths, 
so  as  to  interfere  as  little  as  possible  with  his  pastoral 
work. 

On  the  way  from  Albany  to  Schenectady  they  saw 
with  great  astonishment  one  of  the  newly-invented 
steam  locomotives  driving  past  them  “at  the  furious 
rate  of  fifteen  to  twenty  miles  per  hour.” 

In  this  visit  to  Glens  Falls  we  catch  a  glimpse  of 
John  through  his  sister  Joanna’s  eyes.  His  earnest 
efforts  to  convert  the  members  of  the  family  and  his 
single-eyed,  unsparing  devotion  to  the  cause  of  Christ 
drew  from  her  a  few  days  later  a  letter  expostulating 
with  him  for  “too  great  strenuousness” ;  and  in  a  letter 


COURSE  AT  NEW  HAVEN 


65 


home  she  says:  “John  thinks  we  are  very  worldly.  He 
is  certainly  a  remarkable  person.  I  never  knew  anyone 
so  self-denying,  so  divested  of  any  worldly  feeling.” 

On  his  return  to  New  Haven  in  October  John 
plunged  again  into  the  activities  of  the  Free  Church 
and  of  the  Theological  Seminary.  He  says  in  his 
Confession  of  Religions  Experience : 

During  the  autumn  of  1833  my  spirit  rapidly  in¬ 
creased  in  strength.  By  constant  fellowship  and  con¬ 
versation  with  Boyle,  Dutton  (a  disciple  of  the  famous 
revivalist  Horatio  Foot)  and  other  zealous  young  men 
of  the  “new  measure”  school  who  had  recently  joined 
the  Seminary,  by  reading  such  books  as  The  Life  of 
J.  B.  Taylor  and  Wesley’s  Christian  Perfection, 
as  well  as  by  much  study  of  the  Bible  and  fervent 
prayer,  my  heart  was  kept  in  steady  and  accelerating 
progression  toward  holiness. 

Soon  after  my  return  from  North  Salem  I  had  oc¬ 
casion  with  the  rest  of  my  class  to  make  a  skeleton  of 
a  sermon  for  examination  by  Dr.  Fitch  on  a  text  given 
out  by  him,  viz.,  Phil.  3:13,  14:  “Forgetting  those 
things  which  are  behind,  and  reaching  forth  unto  those 
things  which  are  before,  I  press  toward  the  mark  for 
the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus.” 
The  passage  harmonized  well  with  the  state  of  my 
mind,  and  in  studying  it  I  received  a  new  baptism  of 
zeal.  The  train  of  thought  sketched  in  the  skeleton 
which  I  handed  in  was  summed  up  at  the  end  in  these 
words:  Paul  sought  a  perfect  object,  by  perfect  means, 
with  perfect  energy.  The  Doctor  smiled  at  the  repe¬ 
tition  of  the  word  perfect,  but  made  no  objection. 


66  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

Boyle  in  the  course  of  his  preaching  frequently 
threw  out  the  idea  that  persecution  is  the  test  of  faith¬ 
fulness.  This  was  a  favorite  maxim  of  the  “new 
measure”  school.  I  embraced  it  cordially,  and  pro¬ 
mulgated  it  as  far  as  possible  among  the  students  of 
the  Seminary.  It  met  with  much  opposition.  I  read 
a  long  article  on  the  subject  before  the  Society  of  the 
Seminary,  in  which  I  adduced  the  whole  testimony  of 
the  Bible  to  the  truth  that  “they  who'  will  live  godly  in 
Christ  Jesus  shall  suffer  persecution.”  The  excite¬ 
ment  on  the  subject  ran  so  high,  that  a  debate  was  ap¬ 
pointed,  and  Dr.  Taylor  was  called  in  to  give  his  opin¬ 
ion.  After  much  discussion  he  decided  the  question 
in  the  negative,  alleging  the  experience  of  the  best 
ministers  in  Connecticut  as  illustrations  of  his  posi¬ 
tion,  that  in  this  country  persecution  does  not  always 
follow  faithfulness.  In  the  course  of  this  controversy 
I  settled  in  my  heart  a  principle  which  abides  with  me 
to  this  day,  viz.,  that  I  will  never  expect  or  desire  to 
be  treated  in  this  world  better  than  Jesus  Christ  and 
his  gospel  are  treated. 

During  the  whole  fall  and  winter  the  Seminary  was 
constantly  agitated  by  discussions  private  and  public 
on  subjects  similar  to  those  above  noticed.  Dr.  Taylor 
was  usually  called  in  as  arbitrator  and  usually  took 
sides  with  the  conservatives.  I  acknowledge,  however, 
to  his  credit,  that  he  laid  no  obstacles  in  the  way  of 
free  discussion,  and  that  he  exhorted  us  to  “follow  the 
truth,  though  it  should  cut  our  heads  off.”  Dutton 
stood  by  me  faithfully  through  the  whole  warfare. 
Indeed  he  was  the  only  man  with  whom  I  had  full 
sympathy  at  that  time. 


COURSE  AT  NEW  HAVEN 


67 


Meanwhile  Boyle  was  laboring  with  all  his  might 
to  bring  the  members  of  the  Free  Church  under  con¬ 
viction.  A  revival  that  promised  to  shake  the  whole 
city  had  commenced.  The  first  convert  was  a  young 
man  by  the  name  of  Merwin.  At  one  of  the  meetings 
he  was  convicted.  Dutton,  in  the  bold  way  which  he 
had  learned  in  his  service  with  the  revivalist,  Horatio 
Foot,  immediately  commenced  an  open  conversation 
with  him,  and  insisted  before  the  whole  assembly  that 
he  should  immediately  submit  to  God.  Much  excite¬ 
ment  prevailed  in  the  congregation.  The  young  man 
hesitated  long.  But  Dutton  persevered,  and  by 
dint  of  cool  reasoning  on  the  one  hand  and  warm 
praying  on  the  other  he  at  last  conquered.  Merwin 
broke  down  and  professed  submission  on  the  spot. 
Thenceforward  the  revival  steadily  advanced.  The 
Saturday  evening  meetings  were  crowded,  and  every 
meeting  was  crowned  with  conversions.  Boyle  gave 
charge  of  those  meetings  to  Dutton  and  myself.  Our 
method  of  proceeding  was  this:  I  preached  the  regu¬ 
lar  discourse;  Dutton  followed  with  an  exhortation; 
and  at  the  close  of  the  meeting  those  who  were  desir¬ 
ous  of  conversation  were  invited  to  remain.  A  dozen 
or  more  would  usually  stay,  and  it  was  rare  that  any 
of  them  went  away  at  last  without  professing  con¬ 
version.  I  held  several  other  weekly  meetings  in  dif¬ 
ferent  parts  of  the  city  at  the  same  time  and  with 
similar  results.  My  heart  was  much  engaged  in 
these  labors.  .  .  . 

By  systematic  temperance,  fasting,  exercise  and 
prayer  I  had  overcome  the  bodily  infirmities  which 
troubled  me  at  Andover.  I  was  no  longer  tormented 


68 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


with  inordinate  alimentiveness  and  other  temptations 
to  sensuality.  I  had  conquered  my  nervous  system, 
which  for  a  long  time  after  my  conversion  had  been 
morbidly  excitable.  I  could  now  study  intensely  twelve 
or  even  sixteen  hours  in  a  day  without  injury.  Preach¬ 
ing,  which  once  would  shake  and  disorder  my  nerves, 
had  become  a  delight  and  refreshment  to  me.  I  was 
constantly  cheerful  and  often  very  happy.  My  chief 
delight,  next  to  that  of  communing  with  Christ  through 
the  Scriptures,  was  in  prayer.  I  was  in  the  habit  of 
spending  not  less  than  three  hours  in  my  closet  daily. 
In  those  seasons  I  could  truly  say  that  I  entered  “into 
the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High,  and  abode  under 
the  shadow  of  the  Almighty.”  The  spirit  of  love 
blotted  out  my  transgressions,  wiped  away  my  tears, 
and  filled  me  with  unutterable  bliss.  Many  times  and 
for  days  together  my  heart  was  so  burdened  with 
spiritual  joy,  that  my  body  became  weak  and  pined 
away.  I  record  these  facts  not  in  the  spirit  of  boast¬ 
ing,  but  rather  that  I  may  show  how  much  religion  I 
had  to  give  up,  when  subsequently  “judgment  was  laid 
to  the  line,  and  righteousness  to  the  plummet.” 


CHAPTER  VIII 


THE  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST 

’  s 

It  is  related  that  soon  after  his  conversion,  while 
discussing  a  question  of  theology  with  his  father, 
Noyes  advanced  a  view  that  was  at  variance  with  the 
accepted  doctrine.  “Take  care,”  said  his  father. 
“That  is  heresy.  If  you  get  out  of  the  traces,  the 
ministers  will  whip  you  in.”  “Never!”  said  Noyes. 
“Never  will  I  be  compelled  by  ministers  or  any  one 
else  to  accept  any  doctrine  that  does  not  commend 
itself  to  my  mind  and  conscience.” 

It  is  indeed  unthinkable,  that  Noyes  with  his  fiery 
zeal  and  independence  of  mind  should  for  long  con¬ 
tinue  within  the  rock-bound  limits  of  the  traditional 
creeds.  We  saw  in  the  last  chapter  how  nearly  he 
came  to  a  serious  collision  with  a  “set  of  domineering 
ministers”  at  North  Salem.  We  have  now  to  trace 
the  course  by  which,  starting  in  full  sympathy  with  the 
church,  a  Pharisee  of  the  Pharisees,  he  gradually 
passed  beyond  the  boundaries  of  orthodox  belief,  and 
finally  found  himself  completely  without  the  pale. 

In  his  Confession  of  Religions  Experience  Noyes 
says : 

“I  first  advanced  into  actual  heresy  in  the  early  part 
of  the  summer  of  1833,  while  still  a  student  in  the 
New  Haven  Seminary.  In  the  course  of  my  Bible 

69 


70  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

studies  my  attention  was  arrested  by  Christ’s  expres¬ 
sion  in  John  21:22:  ‘If  I  will  that  he  [John]  tarry 
till  I  come,  what  is  that  to  thee?’  This  seemed  to 
imply  that  Jesus  expected  his  disciple  John  to  live  until 
his  second  coming,  and  the  disciples  so  construed  it. 
The  church  on  the  contrary  taught  that  Christ’s  second 
coming  was  still  far  in  the  future.  I  had  long  been 
growing  in  the  belief  that  the  Bible  was  not  a  book  of 
inexplicable  riddles,  and  I  determined  to  solve  this 
mystery.  Accordingly  I  read  the  New  Testament 
through  ten  times  with  my  eye  on  the  question  as  to 
the  time  of  Christ’s  second  coming,  and  my  heart 
struggling  in  prayer  for  full  access  to  the  truth.  I 
soon  perceived  that  every  allusion  to  the  second  com¬ 
ing  in  which  there  was  a  clue  as  to  its  time  pointed  in 
the  same  direction;  and  when  my  investigation  was 
ended,  my  mind  was  clear:  I  no  longer  conjectured, 
I  knew  that  the  time  appointed  for  the  second  coming 
of  Christ  was  within  one  generation  from  the  time  of 
his  personal  ministry.” 

Noyes’s  theory  of  the  second  coming  was  the  key 
to  his  theology  and  consequently  a  most  powerful  fac¬ 
tor  in  shaping  his  career.  Since  his  exposition  of  the 
subject  is  contained  not  in  a  single  book  but  in  a  large 
number  of  articles  and  talks  scattered  through  forty 
years  of  his  life,  it  is  impossible  to  bring  together 
direct  quotations  which  will  give  a  concise,  connected 
account  of  the  subject  in  its  various  aspects.  The 
editor  has  therefore  attempted  in  the  following  state¬ 
ment  partly  in  his  own  words  and  -partly  in  Noyes’s 
to  present  the  theory  as  nearly  as  possible  in  the  form 
it  finally  took  in  Noyes’s  mind : 


THE  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST  71 


To  prevent  misunderstanding  it  should  here  be 
shown  exactly  what  is  meant  by  the  second  coming 
of  Christ.  A  miniature  of  the  transactions  com¬ 
prised  in  the  first  and  second  comings  may  be  seen 
in  the  parable  of  the  nobleman's  return :  “A  certain 
nobleman  went  into  a  far  country,  to  receive  for  him¬ 
self  a  kingdom,  and  to  return.  And  he  called  his 
ten  servants,  and  delivered  them  ten  pounds,  and  said 
unto  them,  Occupy  till  I  come.  But  his  citizens  hated 
him,  and  sent  a  message  after  him,  saying,  We  will 
not  have  this  man  to  reign  over  us.  And  it  came  to 
pass,  that  when  he  was  returned,  having  received  the 
kingdom,  then  he  commanded  these  servants  to  be 
called  unto  him ;  [and  he  reckoned  with  them,  re¬ 
warding  them  according  to  their  several  merits,  and 
then  said:]  But  those  mine  enemies,  which  would  not 
that  I  should  reign  over  them,  bring  hither,  and  slay 
them  before  me.”  Luke  19:1^-27. 

We  learn  from  this  parable  that  Christ  came, 
departed,  and  returned.  We  learn  also  that  at  his 
first  coming  he  was  comparatively  powerless;  that  in 
the  interval  between  his  departure  and  his  return  he 
had  received  from  his  Father  great  power  and  author¬ 
ity;  and  that  his  second  coming  was  attended  by  the 
judgment,  reward,  and  punishment  of  those  who  had 
witnessed  his  humble  ministry  and  cruel  death  while 
on  earth. 

A  more  particular  account  of  the  second  coming  is 
contained  in  the  twenty-fourth  chapter  of  St.  Matthew. 
In  answer  to  his  disciples’  question,  What  shall  be 
the  sign  of  thy  coming,  and  of  the  end  of  the  world, 
Jesus  described  the  unparalleled  tribulations  soon  to 


72  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

be  visited  on  the  Jewish  race  culminating  in  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem.  Then  he  said:  “Immedi¬ 
ately  after  the  tribulation  of  those  days  shall  the  sun 
be  darkened,  and  the  moon  shall  not  give  her  light, 
and  the  stars  shall  fall  from  heaven,  and  the  powers 
of  the  heavens  shall  be  shaken.  And  then  shall  appear 
the  sign  of  the  Son  of  man  in  heaven;  and  then  shall 
all  the  tribes  of  the  earth  mourn,  and  they  shall  see 
the  Son  of  man  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven  with 
power  and  great  glory.  And  he  shall  send  his  angels 
with  a  great  sound  of  a  trumpet,  and  they  shall  gather 
together  his  elect  from  the  four  winds,  from  one  end 
of  heaven  to  the  other.” 

Because  of  the  form  of  the  disciples’  question  in 
the  English  translation  some  have  assumed,  that  the 
second  coming  was  to  be  identified  with  the  end  of 
the  physical  world.  But  the  Greek  words  translated 
“end  of  the  world”  mean  only  end  of  the  age;  and 
that  Christ  used  them  in  this  sense  is  evident  from  his 
reference  in  this  same  discourse  to  events  that  were 
to  take  place  on  earth  long  after  his  second  coming. 

Again,  because  of  the  fact  that  the  second  coming 
was  manifestly  associated  in  these  passages  with  a 
day  of  judgment,  many  have  supposed  that  the  second 
coming  would  not  take  place  until  the  final  and  gen¬ 
eral  judgment  of  mankind.  But  an  attentive  study 
of  the  Bible  leads  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  judgment 
of  mankind  instead  of  being  a  single  transaction,  as 
popularly  supposed,  is  divided  into  two  acts  occupying 
two  distinct  periods  of  time.  When  Christ  says  that 
Jerusalem  after  its  destruction  “shall  be  trodden  down 
of  the  Gentiles  until  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  be 


THE  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST  73 


fulfilled,”  he  implies  that  the  judgment  of  the  Gen¬ 
tiles  will  be  distinct  from  and  long  after  the  judg¬ 
ment  of  the  Jews.  The  same  fact  is  brought  out 
clearly  by  John  in  the  vision  of  the  seals  and  trumpets. 
In  this  vision,  when  the  sixth  seal  is  opened,  Christ 
appears  on  the  throne  of  judgment  amid  signs  in 
heaven  and  earth,  and  men  hide  themselves  from  his 
face,  saying,  The  great  day  of  his  wrath  is  come. 
This  is  evidently  the  first  judgment.  Afterward  the 
seventh  seal  is  opened,  introducing  a  long  series  of 
events  attending  the  successive  sounding  of  seven 
trumpets.  At  length,  when  the  seventh  trumpet 
sounds,  Christ  is  proclaimed  sovereign  of  the  earth, 
and  the  stage  is  set  for  a  second  and  final  judgment. 

The  propriety  of  two  judgments  becomes  apparent, 
when  we  consider  the  general  plan  of  redemption  as 
laid  down  in  the  Bible.  As  Jlod  divides  mankind  into 
two  great  families — the  Jews  and  the  Gentiles — so 
he  has  appointed  a  separate  judgment  for  each.  The 
harvest  of  the  Jews  came  first,  because  they  were 
ripened  first.  God  separated  them  from  the  rest  of 
the  nations,  and  for  two  thousand  years  poured  upon 
them  the  sunshine  and  rain  of  religious  discipline. 
When  Christ  came,  he  said  that  the  fields  were  “white 
to  the  harvest.”  By  the  preaching  of  Christ  and  his 
apostles  the  preparation  for  judgment  was  completed, 
and  at  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  the  Jews  as  a 
nation  were  judged.  Then  the  process  of  special  relig¬ 
ious  discipline  passed  from  th^  Jews  to  the  Gentiles. 
For  nearly  two  thousand  years  the  Gentile  crop  ha^ 
been  maturing,  and  we  may  reasonably  look  for  the 
Gentile  harvest  as  near. 


> 


7 4  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

Thus  it  will  be  seen,  that  by  the  second  coming 
of  Christ  is  meant  his  coming  with  authority  and 
power  to  reckon  with,  reward  and  punish  those  to 
whom  he  delivered  the  gospel  at  his  first  coming;  the 
day  of  judgment  for  the  apostolic  church  and  the 
Jewish  nation,  not  the  final  and  general  judgment; 
the  end  of  the  age  or  cycle  which  commenced  with 
Moses,  not  the  end  of  the  physical  world. 

Christ  in  his  various  discourses  explicitly  limited 
the  time  of  his  second  coming  by  five  different  but 
equivalent  statements : 

1.  He  placed  it  “immediately  after”  the  unpar¬ 
alleled  tribulations  of  the  Jewish  people  leading  up 
to  and  culminating  in  the  destruction  of  their  holy 
city  and  the  extinction  of  their  national  existence. 

2.  He  said  that  his  disciples  would  not  have  gone 
over  the  cities  of  Israel  in  their  mission  of  preaching 
the  gospel  before  the  Son  of  man  would  come. 

3.  He  expressly  stated  that  his  return  would  take 
place  within  the  lifetime  of  the  generation  then  living 
on  the  earth. 

4.  He  declared  that  some  of  those  to  whom  he 
spoke  would  live  to  see  the  event. 

5.  He  plainly  intimated  in  the  passage  quoted  above 
that  John  would  be  one  of  those  who  would  survive 
until  he  came. 

The  apostles  in  their  writings  give  abundant  evi¬ 
dence  that  they  understood  these  sayings  of  Christ  in 
their  literal  and  obvious  sense.  They  exhort  the 
churches  to  look  and  wait  for  the  coming  of  Christ 
in  language  which  would  sound  strange  in  the  mouths 
of  ministers  today.  They  constantly  speak  of  the 


THE  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST  75 


event  as  near  at  hand.  Paul  plainly  assumes,  that  he 
and  some  of  those  to  whom  he  writes  will  be  alive 
on  earth  when  Christ  returns.  Both  church  and  sec¬ 
ular  historians  are  fully  aware  of  this  belief  on  the 
part  of  the  apostles,  and  have  noted  the  fact  that  the 
amazing  growth  of  the  church  during  the  forty  years 
following  the  crucifixion  was  partly  due  to  the  uni¬ 
versal  expectation  among  the  primitive  believers  that 
the  return  of  Christ  for  judgment,  vengeance  and 
reward  was  soon  to  take  place. 

In  addition  to  the  five  explicit  time-limitations 
quoted  above  Christ  predicted  three  events  within  the 
church,  which  were  to  serve  as  signs  of  the  near 
approach  of  his  coming,  namely,  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel  throughout  the  world,  the  appearance  of  false 
Christs,  and  a  great  falling  away  among  his  followers. 
The  fulfillment  of  these  predictions  is  recorded  in  the 
New  Testament  itself,  as  will  be  seen  by  placing  pre¬ 
dictions  and  fulfillments  in  parallel  columns  thus: 


Predictions. 

Many  false  prophets 
shall  rise,  and  shall  de¬ 
ceive  many.  Matt.  24:  n. 


Fulfillments. 

Many  false  prophets  are 
gone  out  into  the  world. 
I  John  4:  1. 


There  shall  arise  false 
Christs,  and  false  proph¬ 
ets.  Matt.  24:  24. 


Little  children,  it  is  the 
last  time;  and  as  ye  have 
heard  that  antichrist  shall 
come,  even  now  are  there 
many  antichrists;  where¬ 
by  we  know  that  it  is  the 
last  time.  I  John  2:  18. 


76  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


Because  iniquity  shall 
abound,  the  love  of  many 
shall  wax  cold.  Matt.  24: 
12. 

That  day  shall  not  come, 
except  there  come  a  fall¬ 
ing  away  first,  and  that 
man  of  sin  be  revealed. 
II  Thess.  2 :  3. 


This  gospel  of  the  king¬ 
dom  shall  be  preached  in 
all  the  world  for  a  witness 
unto  all  nations;  and  then 
shall  the  end  come.  Matt. 
24:  14. 


Thou  hast  left  thy  first 
love.  Rev.  2:  4. 

I  know  thy  works,  that 
thou  art  neither  cold  nor 
hot.  Rev.  3:15. 


They  went  forth,  and 
preached  everywhere. 
Mark  16:  20. 

But  I  say,  Have  they 
not  heard?  Yes,  verily, 
their  sound  went  into  all 
the  earth,  and  their  words 
unto  the  end  of  the  world. 
Rom.  10:  18. 

The  gospel  .  .  .  which 
was  preached  to  every 
creature  which  is  under 
heaven.  Col.  1 123. 


Christ  also  predicted  that  the  interval  immediately 
preceding  his  return  would  be  characterized  in  the 
world  at  large  by  an  unexampled  succession  of  wars, 
pestilences,  earthquakes,  eclipses  and  famines.  Of 
these  predictions  no  one  denies  the  substantial  fulfill¬ 
ment.  Renan  has  shown  that  the  period  from  60  to 
80  A.  D.  was  characterized  to  an  extent  unprecedented 
in  Mediterranean  history  by  earthquakes,  eclipses,  vol- 


THE  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST  77 


canic  eruptions,  and  crop  failures  resulting  in  famine.* 
And  the  most  notable  sign  of  all,  the  siege  and  destruc¬ 
tion  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans  under  Titus  in  the 
year  70  A.  D.,  is  as  well  authenticated  as  any  fact  in 
history.  This  event  with  its  attendant  circumstances 
was  to  the  Jews  a  calamity  horrible,  stupendous,  in¬ 
conceivable.  In  all  of  its  physical  aspects,  at  any  rate, 
it  was  a  veritable  national  judgment.  Jews  by  the 
hundred  thousand,  the  flower  of  the  race,  who  had 
come  to  Jerusalem  from  all  over  the  world  to  attend 
the  Passover  feast,  were  caught  in  the  Roman  net  and 
destroyed.  Eleven  hundred  thousand,  including  all 
the  aged  and  infirm,  perished  by  sword  and  famine  dur¬ 
ing  the  siege.  Ninety-seven  thousand  able-bodied  men 
were  carried  to  Rome  or  sent  as  presents  to  the  prov¬ 
inces,  to  be  killed  by  gladiators  and  wild  beasts  in  the 
games  of  the  circus.  All  the  children  under  seventeen 
were  despatched  as  slaves  to  the  Egyptian  mines. 
The  city  and  temple  were  utterly  demolished.  The 
daily  sacrifice,  which  symbolized  the  Jewish  religion 
and  which,  they  believed,  had  been  almost  uninterrupt¬ 
edly  maintained  since  the  time  of  Moses,  was  forcibly 
and  hopelessly  broken  up.  The  national  and  territorial 
rights  of  the  Jews,  which  even  their  Babylonian  and 
Persian  conquerors  had  to  some  extent  recognized, 
were  completely  and  finally  taken  away. 

But  despite  the  fulfillment  of  the  predicted  signs  it 
might  still  be  objected,  that  history  bears  no  direct 

*  These  inorganic  phenomena  are  not  necessarily  to  be  re¬ 
garded  as  miracles.  They  may  be,  as  F.  W.  Frankland  has 
said,  an  inexorable  prius,  to  which  the  providential  govern¬ 
ment  of  the  universe  can  only  be  adjusted — not  vice  versa. — 
G.  W.  N. 


78  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

testimony  to  the  occurrence  of  the  second  coming  itself. 
This  leads  to  the  inquiry,  what  according  to  Christ’s 
description  was  to  be  the  nature  of  the  event.  The 
answer  is,  it  was  to  be  secret  “like  a  thief  in  the 
night”;  omnipresent  like  the  lightning;  not  with  out¬ 
ward  show,  since  the  kingdom  of  heaven  was  within. 
In  a  word  the  second  coming  was  to  be,  like  the  first 
coming,  of  a  nature  to  confound  and  disappoint  the 
expectations  of  worldly  wisdom.  There  was  to  be  an 
outward  and  visible  index  of  portentous  events,  but 
the  principal  manifestation  was  to  be  in  the  invisible 
world,  whither  a  large  majority  of  the  subjects  of  the 
Jewish  dispensation  had  already  departed. 

Although  history  bears  no  direct  testimony  to  the 
occurrence  of  Christ’s  second  coming  at  the  end  of 
the  Jewish  dispensation,  there  are  nevertheless  a  num¬ 
ber  of  circumstances  which  might  be  regarded  as  indi¬ 
rect  confirmations  of  the  foregoing  theory.  Among 
these  the  following  are  deserving  of  mention : 

i.  The  destruction  of  Jerusalem  marks  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  a  strange  hiatus  in  the  records  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  church* — a  “historical  chasm  of  sixty  or  eighty 
years”  Heudekoper  calls  it.  Where  before  we  walk 
in  the  glare  of  authentic  letters  and  narratives  in 
abundance,  immediately  after  we  grope  and  stumble 
in  a  historic  night.  Luke  for  some  unaccountable 
reason  closes  his  narrative  of  The  Acts,  leaving  us 
in  doubt  as  to  the  fate  of  Paul.  Paul  himself,  inde- 


*  See  also  the  preface  to  the  1887  edition  of  The  Parousia 
(London)  by  J.  Stuart  Russell,  who  advocates  with  great  full¬ 
ness  of  detail  the  preterist  view  of  the  second  coming. — 
G.  W.  N. 


THE  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST  79 


fatigable  publicist  as  he  always  was,  writes  no  more 
letters,  and  sends  no  more  messengers  to  the  churches 
under  his  care.  Mark  throws  aside  his  pen  in  the  mid¬ 
dle  of  an  unfinished  sentence,  abandoning  his  gospel 
to  be  finished  by  an  unknown  hand.  We  have  no  cer¬ 
tain  information  regarding  the  death  of  any  of  the 
apostles  save  the  few  who  perished  years  before  the 
critical  period.  Just  as  the  darkness  closes  in,  what 
Renan  calls  “the  lightning-flash  of  the  Apocalypse' ’ 
for  a  moment  illumines  the  scene.  It  is  a  warning 
message  to  the  church  that  the  coming  of  Christ  is 
at  the  door.  Then  the  curtain  falls,  and  for  seventy 
years  almost  the  only  authentic  evidence  of  the  exis¬ 
tence  of  the  church  is  the  letter  of  Pliny  to  the  em¬ 
peror  Trajan,  which,  as  F.  W.  Frankland  says,  bears 
“oblique  but  eloquent  witness  in  its  account  of  the 
strength  of  Bithynian  Christianity  to  the  impression 
produced  by  great  events  in  the  recent  Past.” 

2.  When  at  length  the  church  again  emerges  into 
view,  its  character  is  totally  changed.  In  place  of  the 
substantial  unity  of  the  apostolic  church  we  find  a  main 
body  represented  by  the  so-called  apostolic  fathers, 
opposed  on  the  one  side  by  the  Ebionites  and  on  the 
other  by  the  Gnostics.  The  early  simplicity  is  already 
giving  way  to  the  ritual  and  organization  of  the 
Church  of  Rome.  On  examining  the  writings  of 
these  various  sects  we  find  what  Reuss  calls  “an  im¬ 
mense  retrogression”  from  the  views  of  the  apostles. 
Puerility  is  the  outstanding  characteristic  of  all. 

To  the  apostolic  fathers  salvation  has  become  a  mere 
matter  of  wages  and  mechanical  arrangement.  Prayer, 
fasting,  alms-giving  are  efficacious  to  cancel  an  equiv- 


80 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


alent  amount  of  sins.  No  difference  is  felt  as  to  moral 
value  between  the  law  and  the  gospel.  Heresy-hunting 
has  become  the  chief  intellectual  concern.  Extrava¬ 
gant  claims  of  miraculous  power  are  equaled  only  by 
the  credulity  with  which  they  are  received.  The  seeds 
of  monasticism  and  saint-worship  are  plainly  to  be  seen. 

The  Ebionites  were  a  Judaizing  sect.  Because  Paul 
broke  loose  from  Judaism  and  adapted  Christianity  to 
world-wide  needs,  they  rejected  him  as  an  impostor. 
They  adhered  to  the  entire  Mosaic  law,  including  cir¬ 
cumcision,  and  observed  both  the  Christian  and  the 
Jewish  Sabbath.  They  circulated  fantastic  tales  about 
a  revelation  given  in  the  year  ioo  A.  D.  to  a  certain 
Elchasai  by  Jesus  Christ  in  the  person  of  an  angel 
ninety-six  miles  high,  accompanied  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
in  the  person  of  a  female  angel  of  the  same  stature. 

The  Gnostics  were  a  sect  of  mystery-mongers.  They 
relied  for  salvation  on  the  observance  of  mystic  rites, 
and  the  knowledge  of  mystic  names,  numbers,  and  for¬ 
mulas.  They  believed  that  the  soul  in  its  flight  to  heaven 
was  opposed  by  a  legion  of  demons,  and  in  order  to 
make  a  safe  passage  must  know  the  name  of  each  dia¬ 
bolical  assailant  and  be  provided  with  the  requisite  sa¬ 
cred  formula  to  render  him  harmless. 

No  one  of  these  sub-apostolic  writers  had  any  sure 
information  regarding  the  last  days  of  the  apostles. 
Expectation  of  an  imminent  second  coming  of  Christ, 
which  was  so  rife  in  the  Primitive  Church,  had  wholly 
passed  away. 

3.  The  closing  events  of  the  apostolic  age  and  the 
world  movements  of  history  which  followed  were  sin¬ 
gularly  suggestive  of  the  authority  and  power  which 


THE  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST  81 


prophecy  had  assigned  to  Christ  at  his  second  coming. 
The  Jewish  people,  who  had  rejected  and  crucified  him, 
driven  from  their  native  land  and  scattered  among  all 
nations  in  accordance  with  his  prediction,  remain  to  this 
day  a  monument  of  miscarried  national  hopes.  Jeru¬ 
salem,  the  scene  of  his  humiliation  and  death,  after  be¬ 
ing  destroyed  by  the  Romans  was  rebuilt  only  to  be 
ground  under  the  heel  of  Gentile  oppressors  for  two 
thousand  years.  The  Roman  Empire,  whose  provin¬ 
cial  governor  delivered  him  to  his  accusers  and  whose 
soldiers  executed  their  brutal  sentence,  was  at  length 
dashed  in  pieces.  It  was  the  last  of  the  world-empires 
described  by  Daniel  in  his  interpretation  of  Nebuchad¬ 
nezzar’s  dream,  and  was  succeeded  in  accordance  with 
Daniel’s  prophecy  by  a  group  of  balanced  and  divided 
political  powers.  The  Gentiles,  previously  from  the 
Jewish  point  of  view  without  the  pale,  were  admitted 
to  an  equal  share  in  the  salvation  brought  by  Christ, 
and  in  the  new  cycle,  which  commenced  with  the  de¬ 
struction  of  Jerusalem,  became  the  chief  subjects  of  re¬ 
ligious  discipline.  The  Christian  religion  swept  with 
incredible  swiftness  to  its  complete  triumph  over  Juda¬ 
ism  and  Paganism  in  the  Greco-Roman  world.  The 
tiny  record  of  Christ’s  life  and  teachings,  written  not 
by  Christ  but  by  his  disciples,  preserved  through  cen¬ 
turies  of  pagan  hostility  and  barbarian  vandalism,  was 
at  last  printed,  translated  into  every  tongue,  and  circu¬ 
lated  more  widely  than  any  other  book.  The  Christian 
nations  with  resistless  tread  advanced  to  sovereignty 
over  all  the  earth.  If  Christ  had  then  begun  literally  to 
“rule  the  nations  with  a  rod  of  iron,”  events  could 
hardly  have  turned  more  in  accordance  with  the  prophe- 


82  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

cies  of  the  Bible  and  the  interests  of  his  own  king¬ 
dom. 

In  the  foregoing  review  we  have  followed  the  stream 
of  historically  recognized  events  as  it  approached  and 
passed  through  the  predicted  “end  of  the  age”  and 
finally  merged  with  the  events  of  the  succeeding  age. 
So  far  as  these  visible  events  are  concerned  the  pres¬ 
cience  of  Christ  in  his  eschatological  utterances  is 
minutely  established.  In  regard  to  the  invisible  events, 
which  were  equally  the  subjects  of  his  predictions,  we 
can  only  say  that  the  fulfillment  of  his  predictions  in 
the  things  that  were  seen  creates  a  presumption,  that  his 
predictions  were  fulfilled  in  the  things  that  were  not 
seen ;  and  those  who  have  learned  on  other  grounds  to 
take  Christ  fully  at  his  word  may  reasonably  believe 
in  a  second  stream  of  events  parallel  to  the  first,  but  be¬ 
yond  the  verge  of  visibility.  They  will  see  in  imagina¬ 
tion  a  Judgment  Assize  set  up  in  the  invisible  world  im¬ 
mediately  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem;  punish¬ 
ments  and  rewards  meted  out  to  all  the  subjects  of  the 
Jewish  dispensation;  immortality  of  a  vivid  and  domi¬ 
nant  type  attained  by  the  faithful  followers  of  Christ; 
and  the  emergence  of  the  spiritual  organization  of 
which  Christ  was  head  as  thenceforth  the  paramount 
factor  in  human  affairs. 

Noyes  was  one  of  those  who  took  Christ  fully  at  his 
word,  and  the  second  coming  of  Christ  in  its  visible  and 
invisible  aspects  was  to  him  a  potent  reality.  He  meas¬ 
ured  the  greatness  of  the  event  thus:  “As  the  body  is 
to  the  soul,  so  was  the  awful  overthrow  of  Jerusalem 
to  the  second  coming  of  Christ.  The  slaughter  of  eleven 
hundred  thousand  Jews  was  the  visible  and  inferior 


THE  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST  83 


index  of  that  spiritual  judgment,  in  which  ‘the  kings  of 
the  earth,  and  the  great  men,  and  the  rich  men,  and  the 
chief  captains,  and  the  mighty  men,  and  every  bond- 
man,  and  every  free  man  hid  themselves  in  the  dens  and 
rocks  of  the  mountains,  and  said  to  the  mountains,  Fall 
on  us,  and  hide  us  from  the  face  of  him  that  sitteth  on 
the  throne,  and  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb;  for  the 
great  day  of  his  wrath  is  come/  ” 

The  most  important  consequences  of  this  theory  may 
be  stated  thus: 

i.  It  reestablishes  the  credit  of  Christianity  by 
reestablishing  the  credit  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  on  a 
crucial  point  of  their  teaching.  The  idea  that  Christ 
and  his  apostles  were  mistaken  in  regard  to  the  time  of 
the  second  coming  has  been  felt  in  all  ages  as  a  serious 
difficulty  for  the  Christian  religion;  and  now  that  the 
“mistake”  has  been  magnified  to  nearly  two  thousand 
years  the  difficulty  has  become  well-nigh  insuperable. 
How  vulnerable  Christianity  is  on  this  point,  and  how 
alive  to  their  advantage  hostile  critics  arc,  may  be 
judged  from  the  following  extract  from  an  article  by 
Alexander  Brown  in  the  London  Contemporary  Re- 
view  for  March  1911: 

“At  present  the  storm-center  is  the  seemingly  insig¬ 
nificant  matter  of  the  apocalyptic  teaching  of  the  Mas¬ 
ter.  The  accusation  is  made  in  the  bluntest  terms,  that 
He  uttered  predictions  concerning  Himself,  which 
time  has  shown  to  be  false,  proving  that  He  miscon¬ 
ceived  His  own  importance  and  misread  the  future  of 
His  cause.  This  is  meant  to  carry  the  implication,  that 
one  so  visibly  deceived  cannot  be  trusted  in  anything 
else  that  He  taught.  This  accusation  of  failure  and 


84  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

falsity  has  been  persistently  made,  and  buttressed  with 
much  learning  during  the  last  ten  years.” 

The  common  view  of  the  second  coming,  it  must  be 
confessed,  leaves  Christianity  helpless  against  such  at¬ 
tacks.  The  above  theory,  if  true,  is  a  complete  defense. 

2.  This  view  removes  the  foundations  of  a  great  va¬ 
riety  of  false  and  harmful  speculations  in  regard  to  the 
second  coming,  such  as  the  following : 

(a)  The  belief  of  William  Miller,  of  the  Adventists, 
and  of  numberless  others  throughout  the  Christian  cen¬ 
turies,  that  the  second  coming  was,  or  is  about  to  take 
place. 

(b)  The  belief  of  many,  like  Swedenborg  and  Ann 
Lee,  that  the  second  coming  has  recently  taken  place  in 
their  own  persons. 

(c)  The  belief  of  the  Universalists  that,  since  the 
judgment  most  frequently  alluded  to  in  the  Bible  was 
to  take  place  within  the  lifetime  of  the  apostles  and 
evidently  referred  to  the  judgment  of  the  Jews  in  con¬ 
nection  with  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  no  further 
judgment  of  mankind  need  now  be  expected. 

3.  This  view  reduces  the  authority  of  the  early  Chris¬ 
tian  fathers  to  an  amount  commensurate  with  their 
actual  merits.  According  to  the  accepted  view  the  early 
Christian  fathers,  since  they  lived  so  much  nearer  than 
we  to  the  time  of  Christ,  must  have  been  correspond¬ 
ingly  more  Christ-like  than  we ;  hence  in  the  orthodox 
churches  Clement,  Ignatius,  Papias,  Barnabas  were  re¬ 
garded  as  nearly  if  not  quite  equal  in  authority  to  Peter, 
James,  John,  Paul.  And  yet  nothing  is  more  mani¬ 
fest  to  a  student  of  history  than  the  fact,  that  the  Chris¬ 
tian  church  in  passing  from  the  first  to  the  second  cen- 


THE  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST  85» 


tury  underwent  a  sudden  and  vast  declension  of  qual¬ 
ity.  With  this  undoubted  fact  the  foregoing  theory  of 
the  second  coming  exactly  agrees.  According  to  that 
theory  the  apostolic  church,  which  attained  the  highest 
standard  of  character  the  world  has  ever  seen,  passed 
at  the  second  coming  into  the  invisible  world;  and 
the  church  immediately  succeeding,  being  composed 
chiefly  of  newly-converted  pagans  and  barbarians  and 
lacking  the  genuinely  spiritual  nucleus  which  at  the  sec¬ 
ond  coming  was  withdrawn  from  the  visible  world,  in¬ 
stead  of  being  more  advanced  than  the  church  of  the 
present  day  must  of  necessity  have  been  far  less  ad¬ 
vanced.  To  one  who  accepts  that  theory,  therefore, 
the  early  Christian  fathers  with  their  crude  ideas  of 
morality  and  religion  are  examples  not  of  an  exalted 
spiritual  state  which  we  ought  to  strive  for,  but  rather 
of  a  childish  state  which  we  have  outgrown. 

4.  This  view  of  the  second  coming  invalidates  all 
claims  to  ecclesiastical  authority  that  are  based  on  the 
assumption  of  historic  continuity  with  the  apostles.  The 
thread  of  historic  continuity,  instead  of  connecting  with 
the  apostles,  connects  either  with  the  unfaithful  few* 
who  at  the  second  coming  were  rejected,  or  with  the 
mass  of  immature  believers  who  could  not  in  any  sense 
be  looked  upon  as  vested  with  apostolic  authority. 
The  only  credential  that  can  substantiate  a  claim  of 

*  Noyes  did  not  deny  that  there  have  been  many  true  rep¬ 
resentatives  of  Christ  in  the  world  since  the  second  coming. 
But  he  believed  that,  like  the  “two  witnesses”  described  in 
Revelation,  they  have  been  “clothed  in  sackcloth,”  not  in 
priestly  robes.  He  looked  for  the  “remnant  of  the  seed”  of  the 
apostolic  church  not  among  those  who  claimed  authority  in¬ 
herited  from  the  apostles,  but  among  the  heretics  whom  they 
persecuted. — G.  W.  N. 


86  J0HN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

apostolic  authority  is  present  communication  with 
Christ. 

5.  This  view  of  the  second  coming  gives  a  reason¬ 
able  answer  to  the  many  attacks  on  Christianity  which 
are  based  on  the  failure  of  the  visible  Christian  church 
fully  to  embody  Christian  principles.  First,  the  apos¬ 
tolic  church,  which  alone  exhibits  the  mature  fruit  of 
Christianity,  fully  embodied  the  principles  of  Christ 
during  its  career  on  earth,  and  has  fully  embodied  those 
principles  since  its  transfer  to  the  spiritual  world.  Sec¬ 
ondly,  Christianity  as  we  see  it  today  is  not  an  uninter¬ 
rupted  development  of  the  Christianity  that  existed  at 
the  end  of  the  apostolic  age.  On  account  of  the  with¬ 
drawal  of  the  spiritual  part  of  the  apostolic  church  at 
the  second  coming  and  the  assimilation  of  uncounted 
multitudes  of  pagans  and  barbarians  during  the  two 
centuries  immediately  following,  the  Christianity  of  the 
third  century  A.  D.  represented  a  stage  of  civilization 
in  many  respects  as  low  as  that  of  the  Jews  in  the  time 
of  Moses.  It  is  to  this  low  beginning  that  the  develop¬ 
ment  since  must  be  added  in  reckoning  the  present  po¬ 
sition  of  the  visible  Christian  church.  And  if  the  pro¬ 
portion  of  altruistic  individuals  among  the  Christian 
nations  today  is  approximately  as  great  as  it  was  in  the 
Jewish  world  in  70  A.  D.,  which  probably  few  will 
deny,  Christianity  must  be  pronounced  an  unequivocal 
success. 

6.  This  view  of  the  second  coming  brings  into  har¬ 
mony  the  biblical  and  the  evolutionary  conceptions  of 
religious  history.  The  orthodox  churches  believed  that 
religious  privileges  and  experience  had  remained  on  the 
same  general  level  since  the  time  of  Moses.  Christians 


THE  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST  87 


confessed  sin  the  same  as  non-Christians;  and  Chris¬ 
tians  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  same  as  Christians 
of  the  third  century,  or  Jews  of  the  twelfth  century 
B.  C.  All,  however,  were  devoutly  hoping  for  a  relig¬ 
ious  consummation  to  be  suddenly  manifested  at  some 
distant  future  date.  This  is  the  static  conception  of  re¬ 
ligious  history.  The  foregoing  theory,  on  the  other 
hand,  marks  off  religious  history  into  cycles  of  definite 
aim  and  accomplishment.  The  second  coming  marked 
the  end  of  a  cycle  which  commenced  with  Moses.  Its 
aim  was  the  religious  discipline  of  the  Jews,  and  its 
consummation  was  the  apostolic  church,  which,  as  will 
be  shown  in  the  next  chapter,  for  the  first  time  in  hu¬ 
man  history  attained  the  experience  of  complete  free¬ 
dom  from  sin.  Then  a  new  cycle  commenced,  tire  aim 
of  which  was  the  religious  discipline  of  the  Gentiles. 
For  nineteen  hundred  years  the  Gentiles  have  been  toil¬ 
ing  upward  toward  a  consummation  which  Noyes  be¬ 
lieved  to  be  close  at  hand.  This  is  the  dynamic  or  evo¬ 
lutionary  conception  of  religious  history.  According 
to  this  view  the  religious  experience  of  mankind,  in¬ 
stead  of  being  a  static  condition  with  a  sudden  cataclys¬ 
mic  denouement ,  is  a  progressive  evolution  in  harmony 
with  the  principle  which  governs  all  other  known  pro¬ 
cesses  of  life. 

7.  Finally,  this  view  of  the  second  coming  rivets  the 
attention  of  Christians  to  the  apostolic  church  as  the 
perfect  pattern  both  in  teaching  and  experience.  As 
that  church  was  the  consummation  of  the  Jewish  era, 
the  discerning  Christian  will  see  in  it  the  consummation 
toward  which  the  present  era  is  progressing.  And  the 
Christian  churches  that  have  occupied  the  visible  field 


88  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

since  the  second  coming  he  will  see  in  their  true  per¬ 
spective,  starting  from  a  low  beginning  and  advancing 
through  the  centuries  to  a  point  not  yet  as  high  as  that 
of  the  apostolic  church  in  70  A.  D.  For  instruction 
and  example  therefore  he  will  look  over  the  heads  of 
Revivalist,  Calvinist,  Reformer,  Pope,  Apologist,  and 
Christian  Father,  and  fix  his  eye  on  Christ  and  the 
apostles;  and  so  far  as  his  faith  is  able  to  apprehend  the 
apostolic  church  as  a  still  existent  spiritual  organiza¬ 
tion,  as  the  united,  triumphant  church  which  Christ 
prayed  for  and  predicted  and  which  has  always  been 
the  ideal  of  Christendom,  so  far  will  be  able  to  draw  on 
the  stores  of  sympathetic  help  which  flow  from  a  sense 
of  personal  companionship  and  leadership  in  the  battle 
of  life. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  objective  truth  or  fal¬ 
sity  of  this  theory  of  the  second  coming,  its  subjective 
effect  was  tremendous.  It  is  difficult  for  us  of  the 
twentieth  century  to  put  ourselves  back  into  the  state  of 
mind  and  feeling  of  the  New  England  church  oi  1833. 
To  Noyes,  just  completing  his  theological  course  at 
New  Haven  and  thus  far  in  full  sympathy  with  the 
church,  how  revolutionary  these  conclusions  seemed! 
What  boundless  possibilities  of  doctrinal  reform  opened 
before  him !  With  what  a  consciousness  of  power  did 
he  attack  the  problems  of  the  Bible !  No  wonder  that 
he  instinctively  felt,  and  wrote  to  his  friends,  that  he 
had  entered  upon  a  course  of  discovery  which  would 
probably  end  in  his  expulsion  from  the  church. 


CHAPTER  IX 


THEORY  OF  SALVATION  FROM  SIN 

'Noyes  with  his  intensely  practical  turn  of  mind 
soon  perceived  in  his  new  theory  of  the  second  coming 
an  important  bearing  on  the  problem  which  ever  since 
his  conversion  had  engaged  his  thoughts  and  energies, 
the  problem  of  overcoming  sin.  He  saw  that,  if  it  was 
really  true  that  the  second  coming  of  Christ  took  place 
at  the  close  of  the  apostolic  age,  the  religious  experience 
of  the  world  had  reached  a  later  stage  of  development 
than  he  had  supposed.  Instead  of  living,  as  he  had  been 
■taught,  in  the  age  of  prophecy  and  promise,  he  was  liv¬ 
ing  in  the  age  of  fulfillment.  The  Jewish  era,  com¬ 
menced  by  Moses,  extended  by  the  prophets,  amplified 
by  Christ  at  his  first  coming,  was  brought  by  his  second 
coming  to  completion.  Therefore  in  the  later  days  of 
that  era,  in  the  period  between  the  first  and  second  com¬ 
ings  of  Christ,  must  be  found  the  mature  fruit  of  a  com¬ 
plete  cycle  of  religious  discipline;  and  it  became  a  mat¬ 
ter  of  great  concern  to  ascertain  exactly  what  that  fruit 
was.  Searching  the  Bible  for  an  answer  to  this  ques¬ 
tion  Noyes  became  convinced,  that  the  mature  fruit  of 
the  Jewish  era  was  nothing  less  than  entire  salvation 
from  sin,  perfect  holiness  in  this  life. 

In  the  natural  development  of  ethical  ideas  holiness 
and  sin  are  at  first  conceived  as  outward  acts  that  either 

89 


90  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

do  or  do  not  conform  to  the  will  of  God.  The  earliest 
religious  leaders  were  men  who  believed  themselves  to 
be  in  communication  with  God,  and  authorized  by  him 
to  proclaim  his  will.  Moses  was  one  of  these.  His 
message  to  the  Jewish  people  was  the  necessity  of  right 
action.  He  embodied  what  he  believed  to  be  the  will  of 
God  under  all  conceivable  circumstances  in  his  marvel¬ 
ous  code  of  laws,  and  he  promulgated  this  as  a  perfect 
rule  of  action.  For  many  centuries  the  Jews  were  dull 
to  Moses'  commands ;  but  at  last  by  prolonged  discipline 
and  the  incessant  labors  of  the  prophets  the  Mosaic  idea 
was  completely  enthroned  in  their  hearts.  To  them 
holiness  was  obedience  to  the  law ;  sin  was  disobedience 
to  the  law.  In  other  words  holiness  was  right  action ; 
sin  was  wrong  action. 

But  right  action  is  consistent  with  wrong  intent,  and 
wrong  action  with  right  intent ;  and  since  action  is  ulti¬ 
mately  based  on  intent,  the  latter  rather  than  the  for¬ 
mer  is  the  true  measure  of  character.  Hence  Christ  in¬ 
troduced  a  radical  change  in  the  conception  of  holiness 
and  sin.  While  affirming  with  Moses  the  necessity  of 
right  action,  he  insisted  on  the  prior  necessity  of  right 
intent .  He  said  to  his  followers :  “Except  your  right¬ 
eousness  shall  exceed  the  righteousness  of  the  scribes 
and  Pharisees,  ye  shall  in  no  case  enter  into  the  king¬ 
dom  of  heaven.”  And  to  show  wherein  the  difference 
consisted  he  said :  “Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all 
thy  mind;  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  On  these  two 
commandments  hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets.” 
Christ  knew  that  right  intent  working  intelligently 
was  certain  to  result  in  right  action;  hence  to  him 


J.  H.  NOYES,  ABOUT  1840 


THEORY  OF  SALVATION  FROM  SIN  91 

the  kernel  of  holiness  was  perfect  love  of  God  and 
man. 

This  new  conception,  while  it  added  to  the  scope  of 
holiness,  simplified  greatly  the  problem  of  its  attain¬ 
ment.  The  thousand  precepts  of  the  law  were  reduced 
to  one,  that  is  love ;  and  love,  which  is  the  essence  of 
holiness,  was  made  easier  by  the  wonderful  example  of 
it  in  the  life  and  death  of  Christ  himself. 

The  first  person  in  modern  times  who  began  to  appre¬ 
hend  this  new  conception  of  holiness  in  its  relation  to 
salvation  from  sin  was  John  Wesley.  He  had  taught 
about  a  hundred  years  before,  that  holiness  consisted 
essentially  in  perfect  love  of  God  and  man,  and  could 
be  attained  in  this  life.  But  lacking  the  viewpoint  of 
Noyes’s  theory  of- the  second  coming  he  could  not  see 
the  doctrine  of  Christian  perfection  in  its  true  perspec¬ 
tive.  Fie  did  not  grasp  the  fact  that  perfect  holiness  was 
attained  by  the  apostolic  church  in  the  harvest  period 
just  previous  to  Christ’s  second  coming,  and  that  it 
must  again  appear  as  the  mature  fruit  of  the  Gentile 
era.  He  looked  upon  perfect  holiness  as  a  theoretical 
possibility,  and  encouraged  the  more  spiritual  of  his 
followers  to  seek  it.  But  he  did  not  regard  it  as  neces¬ 
sary  to  a  sense  of  justification,  nor  as  secure  from 
backsliding  if  attained.  Nor  did  he  clearly  and  prac¬ 
tically  distinguish  between  the  new  conception  of 
holiness  as  love,  and  the  old  conception  as  doing  the 
works  of  the  law. 

Within  recent  years  in  America  the  doctrine  of  Chris¬ 
tian  perfection  had  been  taught  by  a  number  of  revival 
leaders,  notably  James  Latourette,  John  B.  Foot,  and 
Hiram  Sheldon,  y  During  the  period  of  religious  en- 


92  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

thusiasm  in  the  early  thirties  these  men  had  gained  a 
considerable  following,  especially  in  the  state  of  New 
York.  The  New  York  Perfectionists,  as  they  were 
called,  were  all  Wesleyan  in  origin  and  characteristics, 
the  chief  difference  being  that  they  laid  more  emphasis 
on  the  doctrine  than  Wesley  did,  and  were  willing  to 
be  called  Perfectionists. 

Even  the  leaders  of  the  New  England  church  were 
beginning  to  lean  in  this  same  direction.  For  example, 
they  could  no  longer  subscribe  to  the  old  Calvinistic 
doctrine,  that  man  was  created  wholly  depraved  and 
incapable  of  righteousness  except  as  moved  by  God. 
This  idea  was  manifestly  out  of  harmony  with  the 
spirit  of  the  times,  and  the  New  Haven  Seminary  made 
a  particular  point  of  teaching,  that  God  created  man 
able  to  choose  between  right  and  wrong,  and  could 
therefore  justly  require  him  to  obey  his  laws.  From 
this  position  it  was  obviously  but  a  step  to  Perfection- 
'  ism;  and  in  fact  Dr.  Taylor  had  at  one  time  expressly 
favored  preaching  the  obligation  of  perfect  holiness. 
Then  at  Andover  the  astonishing  paradox  founded 
on  the  seventh  chapter  of  Romans,  that  Paul  was  “the 
chief  of  sinners”  at  one  and  the  same  time  that  he  was 
“the  chief  of  the  apostles,”  had  been  exploded  by  Pro¬ 
fessor  Moses  Stuart,  who  propounded  a  new  interpret 
tation  of  that  celebrated  chapter,  according  to  which 
the  apostle’s  supposed  confession  of  sin  was  made  to 
refer  to  his  pre-Christian  experience.  Many  earnest 
people  were  beginning  to  ask  themselves,  whether 
Christ’s  mission  was  not  in  some  way  to  give  men  more 
power  over  sin  here  in  this  world.  If  it  was  merely  to 
the  life  after  death  that  the  salvation  brought  by  Christ 


THEORY  OF  SALVATION  FROM  SIN  93 


had  reference,  they  said,  wherein  was  their  situation 
any  better  than  that  of  the  Old  Testament  patriarchs. 

With  all  these  approximations  to  the  doctrine  of  sal¬ 
vation  from  sin  Noyes  had  become  familiar  while  a  stu¬ 
dent  at  Andover  and  New  Haven.  By  their  aid  and  by 
much  prayer  and  study  of  the  Bible  he  reached  his  own 
conclusion,  that  entire  salvation  from  sin  in  this  world 
was  attained  by  the  apostolic  church  just  previous  to 
the  second  coming,  and  must  again  emerge  as  the  stand¬ 
ard  of  Christian  experience  at  the  “end  of  the  times  of 
the  Gentiles.”  An  outline  of  the  argument  in  his  own 
words  is  presented  below : 

Salvation  from  Sin 

Paul  says:  “This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy 
of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world 
to  save  sinners.”  From  what  does  he  propose  to  save 
them?  A  few  plain  texts  of  Scripture  will  answer: 

On  the  first  page  of  the  New  Testament  it  is  writ¬ 
ten:  “She  [Mary]  shall  bring  forth  a  son,  and  thou 
shalt  call  his  name  Jesus;  for  he  shall  save  his  people 
from  their  sins.”  Matt.  1:21.  “What  the  law  could 
not  do,  in  that  it  was  weak  through  the  flesh,  God  send¬ 
ing  his  own  Son  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh  .  .  . 

condemned  sin  in  the  flesh :  that  the  righteousness  of 
the  law  might  be  fulfilled  in  us.”  Rom.  8:  3-4.  “You 
that  were  sometime  alienated,  and  enemies  in  your  mind 
by  wicked  works,  yet  now  hath  he  reconciled  .  .  . 

to  present  you  holy  and  unblamable  and  unreprovable 
in  his  sight.”  Col.  1  :  21-22.  These  texts,  and  others 
like  them,  explicitly  declare  the  object  of  the  mission 
and  sacrifice  of  Christ  to  be  the  salvation  of  his  people 


94 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


not  merely  or  primarily  from  the  consequences  of  their 
sins,  but  from  the  sins  themselves. 

The  “glad  tidings  of  great  joy,”  which  the  angels 
represented  as  coming  with  the  birth  of  Christ,  were 
in  fact  tidings  of  things  well  known  to  the  prophets 
and  patriarchs,  if  they  related  only  to  the  pardoning 
mercy  of  God.  But  if  Christ  came  proclaiming  not 
only  the  mercy  of  God  in  pardoning  sin,  but  also  his 
power  to  cleanse  and  preserve  from  sin,  then  truly  he 
brought  “good  news”  to  the  world;  his  message  is 
worthy  to  be  called  “the  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed 
God.” 

It  is  obvious  that  the  doctrine  of  salvation  from  sin  is 
not  liable  to  any  objections  drawn  from  the  experience 
of  those  who  lived  before  the  manifestation  of  Christ. 
To  adduce  the  sins  of  Moses  and  David  as  proof  that 
the  gospel  does  not  give  entire  salvation  from  sin  is  to 
overlook  altogether  the  distinction  between  the  Mosaic 
and  Christian  dispensations,  and  in  fact  to  assume  that 
Christ  brought  no  new  blessings  to  the  world.  This  is 
as  absurd  as  it  would  be  to.  under  take  to  disprove  the 
reality  of  steam  power  by  referring  to  facts  that  oc¬ 
curred  a  thousand  years  ago. 

The  objector  may  still  allege  that  sin  remained  in  the 
saints  after  the  coming  of  Christ.  While  Christ  was 
personally  with  them,  the  disciples  exhibited  a  hasty 
and  bigoted  zeal  in  proposing  to  call  fire  from  heaven 
to  consume  their  opposers ;  carnal  ambition  and  child¬ 
ish  rivalry  appeared  among  them ;  at  the  cross  they  all 
forsook  their  Master  :  and  Peter,  the  boldest  and  most 
devoted  of  them,  thrice  denied  him  with  cursing  and 
oaths. 


THEORY  OF  SALVATION  FROM  SIN  95 


We  admit  the  facts,  but  deny  the  inference.  Salva¬ 
tion  from  sin  is  effected  by  two  agencies,  the  spirit  of 
God,  and  the  truth  concerning  the  death  and  resurrec¬ 
tion  of  Christ.  Since  the  sins  in  question  were  com¬ 
mitted  before  the  outpouring  of  the  spirit  of  God  on 
the  day  of  Pentecost  and  before  the  death  and  resur¬ 
rection  of  Christ,  they  stand  on  the  same  ground  with 
the  sins  of  the  Old  Testament  saints.  They  occurred 
before  the  Christian  dispensation  began. 

Finally  it  may  be  objected  that  the  saints  of  the  apos¬ 
tolic  age  who  lived  after  the  death  and  resurrection 
of  Christ  and  the  effusion  of  the  spirit  of  God  and 
were  therefore  certainly  subjects  of  the  Christian 
dispensation  did  nevertheless  commit  sin.  Years 
after  these  events  Peter  “was  to  be  blamed,”  and 
James  was  obliged  to  say,  “In  many  things  we  offend 
all.” 

Admitting,  as  we  freely  do,  that  in  the  early  days  of 
the  apostolic  age  sin  still  had  place  in  the  church,  we 
nevertheless  maintain  that  the  time  came  at  last  when 
they  that  continued  in  Christ's  word  were  made  free 
from  sin.  We  are  fully  sustained  in  this  position  by 
the  first  epistle  of  John.  That  epistle  was  among  the 
latest  writings  of  the  New  Testament,  and  as  such  is 
just  the  testimony  we  need  to  determine  what  was  the 
power  of  Christianity  when  its  fruit  was  ripe.  Taking 
that  epistle  by  itself,  disencumbered  as  it  ought  to  be 
of  the  experience  of  Jewish  and  semi-Christian  saints, 
it  is  impossible  to  avoid  the  conviction  that  the  theo¬ 
retical  and  practical  standard  of  religion  there  exhib¬ 
ited  was  perfect  holiness.  Let  us  hear  his  testi¬ 
mony  : 

1 


i 


96  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

“If  we  walk  in  the  light,  as  he  is  in  the  light,  we  have 
fellowship  one  with  another,  and  the  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin.” 

“Hereby  we  do  know  that  we  know  him,  if  we  keep 
his  commandments.  He  that  saith,  I  know  him,  and 
keepeth  not  his  commandments,  is  a  liar,  and  the  truth 
is  not  in  him.” 

“Whosoever  abideth  in  him  sinneth  not;  whosoever 
sinneth  hath  not  seen  him,  neither  known  him.” 

“He  that  committeth  sin  is  of  the  devil.” 

“Whosoever  is  born  of  God  doth  not  commit  sin; 
for  his  seed  remaineth  in  him ;  and  he  cannot  sin,  be¬ 
cause  he  is  born  of  God.” 

But  we  need  not  rely  exclusively  on  the  first  epistle 
of  John.  If  our  theory  concerning  the  progressive  na¬ 
ture  of  spiritual  experience  is  correct,  we  may  expect 
to  find  in  the  later  records  of  the  Primitive  Church  evi¬ 
dence  of  the  existence  of  two  distinct  classes  of  believ¬ 
ers  :  a  class  that  was  yet  in  a  carnal  state,  and  a  class 
that  had  attained  perfect  holiness.  In  the  writings  of 
Paul  we  find  proof  that  this  was  actually  the  case.  “We 
speak  wisdom,”  says  he,  “among  them  that  are  per¬ 
fect.”  I  Cor.  2  :6.  It  appears  by  what  .follows  that  he 
uses  the  word  perfect  in  this  case  to  describe  those  who 
had  attained  salvation  from  sin;  for  he  says:  “And  I, 
brethren,  could  not  speak  unto  you  as  unto  spiritual, 
[this  is  the  class  whom  he  calls  perfect],  but  as  unto 
carnal,  even  as  unto  babes  in  Christ.  .  .  .  For 

whereas  there  is  among  you  envying,  and  strife,  and 
divisions,  are  ye  not  carnal,  and  walk  as  men?”  The 
perfection  of  Paul  and  of  those  among  whom  he  spoke 
wisdom  stands  opposed  to  the  imperfection  of  those 


THEORY  OF  SALVATION  FROM  SIN  9 7 


who  were  yet  subject  to  sinful  passions;  it  is  therefore 
perfection  of  holiness. 

In  support  of  the  general  argument  which  we  have 
presented,  we  will  now  adduce  an  individual  instance 
of  perfect  holiness.  And  our  specimen  shall  be  the 
apostle  Paul. 

[Here  follows  a  discussion  of  the  famous  passage 
in  the  seventh  chapter  of  Romans,  in  which  Paul  was 
supposed  by  some  to  have  confessed  sin.  The  argu¬ 
ment  which  Noyes  uses  to  prove  that  Paul  in  this  pas¬ 
sage  refers  to  his  pre-Christian  experience  he  learned 
at  Andover  from  Professor  Stuart;  and  as  few  since 
Stuart’s  time  have  ventured  to  uphold  the  former  inter¬ 
pretation,  we  omit  it.  We  also  omit  his  discussion  of 
Paul’s  remark  in  Phil.  3 :  12,  “Not  as  though  I  had  al¬ 
ready  attained,  either  were  already  perfect”;  since  it 
will  be  shown  in  the  next  chapter  that  the  word  perfect 
is  here  used  with  reference  not  to  holiness  but  to  expe¬ 
rience.  We  proceed  directly  to  the  main  contention, 
-  which  is  as  follows :] 

1.  Paul  asserts  in  a  great  variety  of  passages  his 
union  with  Christ. 

2.  He  plainly  asserts  his  freedom  from  sin  as  the 
consequence  of  his  union  with  Christ  in  such  passages 
as  these :  “How  shall  we  that  are  dead  to  sin  live  any 
longer  therein?”  Rom.  6:  2.  “The  law  of  the  Spirit 
of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  hath  made  me  free  from  the  law 
of  sin  and  death.”  Rom.  8 :  2. 

3.  His  writings,  instead  of  being  filled  with  confes¬ 
sions  of  sin,  everywhere  abound  with  vindications  of 
his  own  conduct,  bold  assertions  of  his  righteousness, 


98  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

and  appeals  from  human  accusation  to  the  judgment 
of  God. 

4.  He  constantly  proposes  his  own  life  as  a  perfect 
example  for  imitation.  “I  beseech  you,”  he  says,  “be 
ye  followers  of  me.  For  this  cause  have  I  sent  unto 
you  Timotheus  .  .  .  who  shall  bring  you  into  re¬ 
membrance  of  my  ways  which  be  in  Christ.”  “Those 
things  which  ye  have  both  learned,  and  received,  and 
heard,  and  seen  in  me,  do :  and  the  God  of  peace  shall 
be  with  you.” 

The  above  testimony,  both  negative  and  positive, 
should  be  weighed  in  connection  with  the  fact  that  Paul 
unreservedly  preached  perfection  to  the  churches,  and 
that  he  made  it  the  main  object  of  one  of  his  most  im¬ 
portant  epistles,  that  to  the  Hebrews,*  to  exhibit  Chris¬ 
tianity  as  a  dispensation  of  perfect  holiness.  In  view 
of  this  we  must  conclude  either  that  Paul  was  self- 
deceived  and  that  his  life  was  altogether  at  variance 
with  the  theory  which  he  preached,  or  that  he  was  a 
genuine  example  of  salvation  from  sin. 

Thus  we  have  shown,  first,  that  salvation  from  sin 
was  the  great  object  of  the  mission  and  sacrifice  of 
Christ;  secondly,  that  the  sins  of  the  Old  Testament 
saints  cannot  be  adduced  as  evidence  against  this  doc¬ 
trine,  because  they  were  committed  before  Christ  came 
into  the  world;  thirdly,  that  the  sins  of  the  disciples 
during  Christ’s  personal  ministry  cannot  be  so  adduced, 
because  they  were  committed  before  the  death  and  res¬ 
urrection  of  Christ  and  the  effusion  of  the  spirit  of 

*  The  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  though  probably  not  written 
by  Paul,  was  certainly  written  from  the  Pauline  point  of 
view. — G.  W.  N. 


THEORY  OF  SALVATION  FROM  SIN  99 


God;  fourthly,  that  the  sins  of  many  in  the  Primitive 
Church  after  the  day  of  Pentecost  cannot  be  so  ad¬ 
duced,  because  they  were  committed  before  the  truth 
concerning  Christ’s  death  and  resurrection  was  fully 
developed  and  applied;  and  finally,  that  according  to 
the  testimony  of  John  and  Paul  Christianity  in  its  ma¬ 
turity  did  actually  make  believers  perfectly  holy  in  this 
world. 


CHAPTER  X 


TRANSITION  TO  HOLINESS 

Confession  of  Religious  Experience 

The  subject  of  perfect  holiness  was  frequently 
touched  upon  in  conversation  between  Boyle,  Dutton 
and  myself.  Dutton’s  reports  of  the  testimony  of  John 
B.  Foot  and  the  letters  which  he  occasionally  received 
from  his  sister  excited  much  interest  in  my  mind.  The 
usual  objections  to  the  doctrine  of  perfection  at  first 
stood  in  my  way.  But  they  gradually  disappeared.  The 
objection  which  seemed  strongest  and  remained  last 
was  the  confession  of  Paul :  “Not  as  though  I  had  al¬ 
ready  attained,  either  were  already  perfect.”  While 
ruminating  on  this  text,  it  suddenly  occurred  to  me 
that  there  were  several  passages  in  which  Christ  was 
said  to  have  been  perfected.  I  immediately  turned  to 
Heb.  2 :  io,  5 :  8-9,  and  Luke  13  132,  and  found  that  in 
each  of  these  instances  the  word  “perfect”  is  used  in 
connection  with  the  idea  of  suffering,  just  as  it  is  in 
Paul’s  confession.  Christ,  “though  he  was  a  son,”  and 
of  course  perfectly  holy,  yet  needed  to  learn  obedience, 
and  to  be  made  perfect  by  suffering.  I  saw  plainly  that 
Paul  was  not  speaking  of  perfect  holiness,  but  of  per¬ 
fection  by  suffering,  or  perfect  experience.  The  diffi¬ 
culty  was  entirely  removed,  and  I  was  set  free  from  all 

100 


TRANSITION  TO  HOLINESS  101 

scriptural  hindrances  to  the  attainment  of  perfect  holi¬ 
ness. 

From  this  time,  which  was  as  early  as  November 
1833,  I  began  to  advocate  the  doctrine  of  perfection  in 
the  Seminary  and  among  my  acquaintances.  In  our 
devotional  meetings,  which  at  that  time  were  most  in¬ 
teresting,  I  declared  my  belief  that  the  time  was  com¬ 
ing  when  perfection- revivals  would  sweep  over  the 
churches  as  ordinary  revivals  had  swept  over  the  ranks 
of  the  impenitent;  and  I  proposed  to  the  students  this 
trying  question :  “If  we  preach  to  sinners  their  ability 
to  repent  and  the  obligation  of  immediate  submission 
to  God,  why  ought  we  not  to  lay  to  heart  our  ability  to 
be  perfectly  holy  and  the  obligation  of  immediate  con¬ 
formity  to  the  whole  demand  of  the  law?” 

At  last  I  prepared  and  read  before  the  Society  of  the 
Seminary  an  elaborate  essay  on  the  question:  “Why 
does  not  the  Christian  church  at  the  present  day  ad¬ 
vance  as  rapidly  as  the  Primitive  Church  did  toward 
the  conquest  of  the  world?”  My  answer  in  substance 
was  this:  1.  The  Primitive  Church  freely  and  earn¬ 
estly  preached  the  doctrine  of  perfection ;  whereas  mod¬ 
ern  churches  have  fallen  back  upon  the  seventh  chapter 
of  Romans,  and  are  afraid  to  say  anything  about  per¬ 
fection.  2.  The  Primitive  Church  took  hold  on  the  full 
strength  of  God  by  the  prayer  of  faith ;  whereas  mod¬ 
ern  churches  think  that  “the  age  of  miracles  is  past,” 
and  dare  not  expect  actual  and  immediate  answers  to 
their  prayers.  3.  The  Primitive  Church  relied  first 
on  personal  holiness,  secondly  on  prayer,  and  thirdly 
on  preaching,  as  the  means  of  converting  the  world; 
whereas  the  modern  churches  rely  first  on  preaching, 


102  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

secondly  on  prayer,  and  lastly  on  personal  holiness.  It 
is  not  strange  that  their  ministers,  having  nothing  to 
support  them,  instead  of  pulling  sinners  out  of  the  mire 
are  often  pulled  into  it  themselves.  In  conclusion  I 
proposed  for  our  motto  and  as  a  memorial  of  the  order 
in  which  the  three  great  subjects  ought  to  stand  in  our 
minds  the  words:  Perfection ,  Prayer ,  Preaching. 
All  this,  though  it  caused  excitement  and  interesting 
discussions  in  the  Seminary,  raised  no  alarm  of  heresy. 

The  reaction  upon  myself  of  my  labors  to  convert 
others  in  the  revival  at  New  Haven  was  the  immediate 
cause  of  my  conviction  and  conversion  to  Perfection¬ 
ism.  In  searching  the  Scriptures  for  truths  adapted  to 
pierce  the  hearts  of  the  impenitent  I  was  found  at  last 
pierced  and  writhing  on  the  points  of  those  very  truths 
myself. 

I  well  remember  one  discourse  which  I  preached  in 
different  places  four  times  within  a  few  weeks,  and 
every  time  with  an  increasing  weight  of  self-applica¬ 
tion.  The  text  was  Proverbs  28 :  13  :  “He  that  covereth 
his  sins  shall  not  prosper;  but  whoso  confesseth  and 
forsaketh  them  shall  have  mercy.”  The  train  of  thought 
was  this :  The  antithesis  of  covering  sin  is  confessing 
and  forsaking  sin.  Mere  confession  is  not  enough.  If 
men  do  not  forsake  their  sins,  they  cover  them,  how¬ 
ever  much  they  may  confess  them.  In  fact  confession 
of  sin  in  the  common  way,  that  is  without  forsaking  it, 
is  the  most  ingenious  and  satisfactory  way  of  covering 
it.  When  a  man’s  sins  lie  before  him  in  all  their  hate¬ 
fulness,  what  better  way  can  he  take  to  cover  them  than 
to  spread  a  neat  white  confession  over  them?  This 
hides  their  deformity  from  himself  and  his  fellow-men. 


FRANSITION  TO  HOLINESS 


103 


But  God  sees  through  this  cover,  and  must  abhor  this 
whole  system  of  sinning  and  confessing  and  sinning 
again,  which  prevails  in  the  churches.  Common  sense 
as  applied  to  the  dealings  of  men  with  each  other 
repudiates  it.  If  a  man  steals  from  you  today  and 
afterward  confesses  it,  you  forgive  him.  But  if  he 
steals  again  tomorrow  and  again  confesses  it,  you 
begin  to  distrust  him.  Perhaps,  however,  you  for¬ 
give  him  the  second  time.  But  if  he  steals  the 
third  day,  and  confesses  the  third  time  even  with 
tears,  you  account  his  confession  as  bad  as  his  theft, 
an  insult  added  to  injury,  a  cover  of  iniquity.  Yet 
this  is  the  way  that  men  who  profess  to  be  religious 
are  dealing  with  God  all  over  the  land.  From  day 
to  day,  from  sabbath  to  sabbath,  from  year  to  year,  in 
the  closet,  the  family,  and  the  church,  they  confess  the 
same  sins  over  and  over  and  never  forsake  them ;  never 
expect  to  forsake  them.  The  thought  I  have  thus 
sketched  was  like  a  barbed  arrow  in  my  heart.  Every 
time  I  handled  it,  it  entered  deeper.  It  brought  me  into 
an  agony  of  conviction,  from  which  I  knew  there  was 
no  escape  except  by  the  abandonment  once  for  all  of 
the  whole  body  of  sin.  This  same  discourse  also  took 
away  Dutton’s  old  “hope,”  and  placed  him  with  me  in 
the  condition  of  a  convicted  sinner. 

All  this  might  have  resulted  in  no  decisive  change,  if 
I  had  not  previously  seen  the  way  open  into  perfect 
holiness.  But  with  clear  views  on  this  subject  I  found 
the  whole  force  of  my  convictions  of  sin  impelling  me 
toward  a  radical  spiritual  revolution.  Yet  I  knew  I 
had  been  converted  before  in  some  sense,  and  had 
served  God  with  zeal.  “How  can  it  be,”  I  asked  myself, 


104 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


“that  I  must  give  up  the  past  and  be  converted  again?” 
The  following  reasonings  removed  my  difficulties  on  this 
point.  I  perceived  that  there  are  three  distinct  states 
of  the  heart:  First,  a  state  in  which  a  preponderance 
of  the  affections  is  toward  the  world.  This  is  irrelig- 
ion.  Second,  a  state  in  which  a  preponderance  of  the 
affections  is  toward  God,  though  more  or  less  attach¬ 
ment  to  the  world  still  remains.  This  is  the  double- 
minded  state,  the  state  of  ordinary  sinful  religion. 
Third,  a  state  in  which  all  the  affections  of  the  heart 
are  given  to  God.  In  this  state  there  is  no  seditious  mi¬ 
nority  of  the  affections  to  embarrass  and  occasionally 
defeat  the  “governing  purpose.”  Of  course  there  is  no 
sin.  This  is  certainly  the  state  of  the  saints  in  heaven ; 
and  I  was  satified  that  it  is  attainable  on  earth,  and  that 
some  in  the  Primitive  Church  did  attain  it.  I  saw  that 
the  second  of  the  states  above  described,  though  it  may 
more  conformable  to  the  law,  which  requires  the  whole 
be  valuable  as  a  preparation  for  ultimate  holiness,  is  no 
heart,  than  the  first.  It  was  evident  to  me  also,  that 
the  transition  from  the  double-minded  state  to  perfect 
holiness  requires  a  radical  conversion  as  really  as  the 
transition  from  impenitence  to  the  double-minded  state. 
Thus  I  learned  to  turn  my  back  on  my  first  conversion 
and  press  toward  a  second. 

Still  the  question  would  arise,  “How  shall  I  dispose 
of  my  blessed  experience  of  God’s  love?  Has  he  been 
approving  me  as  a  sinner,  or  has  my  supposed  commun¬ 
ion  with  him  been  a  delusion?”  I  found  a  satisfactory 
answer  in  the  following  passages:  “He  maketh  his 
sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good,  and  sendeth  rain 
on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust.”  “Despisest  thou  the 


TRANSITION  TO  HOLINESS 


105 


riches  of  his  goodness  and  forbearance  and  long-suf¬ 
fering,  not  knowing  that  the  goodness  of  God  leadeth 
thee  to  repentance?”  I  discovered  that  the  principle 
involved  in  these  sayings  was  as  applicable  to  spiritual 
as  to  physical  blessings;  that  I  had  no  more  right  to 
infer  God’s  approbation  of  my  moral  state  from  the 
fact  that  he  had  sent  the  sunshine  and  the  rain  of  his 
spirit  upon  me,  than  the  wicked  of  the  world  have  to  in¬ 
fer  his  approval  of  them,  because  he  gives  them  literal 
sunshine  and  rain.  As  he  had  given  me  temporal  bless¬ 
ings  when  I  was  wholly  a  worldling,  that  he  might  ef¬ 
fect  my  first  conversion,  so  he  had  given  me  spiritual 
blessings  in  my  sinful-religious  state,  that  he  might  pre¬ 
pare  me  for  conversion  to  perfect  holiness. 

At  last  the  pressure  of  conviction  became  so  great, 
that  I  lost  all  relish  for  the  revival  labors  in  which  I 
was  engaged ;  not  because  I  cared  less  for  souls,  but  be¬ 
cause  I  felt  that  it  was  folly  to  try  to  save  others  while 
I  myself  was  not  saved.  At  one  of  the  meetings  I  stated 
with  all  sincerity  my  views  of  my  case,  and  remarked 
that  the  “sinners”  to  whom  I  had  preached,  if  they 
could  know  my  situation,  might  fairly  say  to  me: 
“Physician,  heal  thyself” ;  “first  cast  out  the  beam  out 
of  thine  own  eye,  and  then  shalt  thou  see  clearly  to  cast 
out  the  mote  out  of  thy  brother’s  eye.”  From  that  time 
I  withdrew  from  public  effort  as  far  as  I  could  con¬ 
sistently  with  my  positive  engagements,  and  gave  my¬ 
self  up  to  prayer,  searching  the  Scriptures,  and  inquiry 
after  salvation  from  sin.  My  appetite  forsook  me  and 
for  a  week  before  I  found  peace  I  took  but  little  food. 

The  law,  “Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with 
all  thy  heart,”  was  ever  before  my  mind  as  the  only 


106  *  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

standard  of  righteousness,  the  very  beginning  of  all 
virtue.  In  the  blaze  of  that  law  all  my  works  and 
experiences  and  hopes  faded  into  vanity.  I  saw 
immeasurable  wickedness  within  me.  Considering 
the  light  and  privileges  I  had  enjoyed  it  seemed  to  me 
that  I  was  indeed  the  very  “chief  of  sinners,”  blacker 
with  guilt  than  even  the  devils  in  the  lowest  hell.  I 
loathed  my  life  and  desired  rather  to  die  and  go  to 
judgment  at  once,  even  if  I  were  to  be  damned,  than 
go  on  in  sin  treasuring  up  wrath  against  the  day  of 
wrath. 

The  question  with  me  was  not  how  to  get  relief 
from  this  distress  nor  how  to  be  saved  at  last  from 
hell,  but  how  to  fulfill  now  the  righteousness  of  the 
law.  The  solution  of  this  question,  though  now  it 
seems  simple,  was  then  a  matter  of  great  difficulty. 
The  ideas  of  faith  current  in  that  day  were  few  and 
meager.  I  had  been  trained  in  the  revival  doctrines 
of  “submitting  to  the  will  of  God”  and  “making 
benevolence  the  governing  purpose,”  but  my  attention 
had  never  been  directed  to  faith  as  fundamentally 
related  to  salvation  from  sin. 

The  circumstance  which  finally  fixed  my  eye  on 
faith  was  this:  Dutton,  who  had  gone  hand  in  hand 
with  me  into  the  dark  valley  of  conviction,  was  tell¬ 
ing  me  one  day  about  the  Albany  Perfectionists,  and 
mentioned  that  they  made  great  account  of  faith.  The 
remark  caught  my  attention,  and  I  immediately  went 
through  the  New  Testament  noting  all  I  found  onjhis 
subject.  At  the  end  of  the  examination  I  was  greatly 
astonished  at  the  magnitude  of  the  subject  as  exhibited 
in  the  Bible  and  my  own  ignorance  of  it.  In  the  gos- 


TRANSITION  TO  HOLINESS 


107 


pels  I  found  Christ  always  speaking  to  those  who 
sought  his  help  in  this  manner:  “If  thou  canst  be¬ 
lieve,  thou  shalt  be  made  whole.”  “According  to  thy 
faith  be  it  unto  thee.”  “Thy  faith  hath  made  thee 
whole.”  “O  woman,  great  is  thy  faith.”  In  all  the 
epistles  I  saw  the  same  idea  of  the  agency  of  faith 
transferred  from  bodily  to  spiritual  therapeutics.  In 
a  word  I  was  convinced  that  faith  occupies  the  same 
central  place  in  Bible  theology  as  “governing  purposes” 
occupy  in  the  system  of  the  revivalists.  This  was  the 
beginning  of  daylight  to  my  soul. 

But  it  was  only  the  beginning.  Though  I  had  thus 
found  the  clue  of  faith,  I  had  not  yet  reached  the  rest¬ 
ing-place  to  which  it  leads.  My  heart  still  anxiously 
pondered  the  question,  How  shall  I  get  this  faith?  I 
felt  like  one  groping  for  a  door  in  the  dark  without  a 
guide.  Sometimes  I  looked  wistfully  toward  Albany, 
and  almost  resolved  to  go  to  John  B.  Foot  or  some 
other  person  who,  I  supposed,  had  experience  of  faith. 
In  this  state  of  mind  Dutton  and  I  sought  out  an  old 
woman,  whom  I  had  met  in  a  morning  prayer  meet¬ 
ing.  She  was  reported  crazy,  but  Dutton  thought  this 
a  sign  in  her  favor,  as  the  western  Perfectionists  were 
generally  accounted  crazy.  She  appeared  to  be  really 
deranged.  Her  remarks  about  believing,  however,  had 
a  good  effect  on  my  mind.  She  would  enter  into  no  ex¬ 
planations,  but  treated  our  difficulties  as  contemptible. 
“Oh,”  said  she,  “if  you  cannot  believe  what  God  says, 
you  cannot  expect  anything.”  This  was  the  right  an¬ 
swer  to  our  inquiries,  whether  the  credit  of  it  was  due 
to  her  sagacity  or  not. 

On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  I  was  under  the 


108 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


necessity  of  attending  an  inquiry  meeting  at  Mr.  Ben¬ 
jamin’s  in  Orange  Street.  I  had  no  heart  for  the  ap¬ 
propriate  labors  of  the  meeting.  I  was  an  almost  des¬ 
pairing  inquirer  myself,  and  it  was  misery  to  attempt 
to  instruct  others.  As  I  sat  brooding  over  my  diffi¬ 
culties  and  prospects,  I  listlessly  opened  my  Bible  and 
my  eye  fell  upon  these  words:  “The  Holy  Ghost 
shall  come  upon  thee,  and  the  power  of  the  Highest 
shall  overshadow  thee:  therefore  also  that  holy  thing 
which  shall  be  born  of  thee  shall  be  called  the  Son  of 
God.”  The  words  seemed  to  glow  upon  the  page,  and 
my  spirit  heard  a  voice  from  heaven  through  them 
promising  me  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  the 
second  birth.  I  opened  the  Bible  again  in  the  spirit 
of  Samuel,  when  he  said :  “Speak  Lord,  for  thy  ser¬ 
vant  heareth,”  and  these  words  were  before  me :  “At 
my  first  answer  no  man  stood  with  me,  but  all  men 
forsook  me:  I  pray  God  that  it  may  not  be  laid  to 
their  charge.  Notwithstanding  the  Lord  stood  with 
me,  and  strengthened  me;  that  by  me  the  preaching 
might  be  fully  known,  and  that  all  the  Gentiles  might 
hear ;  and  I  was  delivered  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  lion. 
And  the  Lord  shall  deliver  me  from  every  evil  work, 
and  will  preserve  me  unto  his  heavenly  kingdom;  to 
whom  be  glory  forever  and  ever.”  Again  my  soul 
drank  in  a  spiritual  promise  appropriate  to  my  situa¬ 
tion,  an  assurance  of  everlasting  victory.  Once  more 
I  opened  the  book,  and  these  words  met  my  view: 
“Go,  stand  and  speak  in  the  temple  to  the  people  all 
the  words  of  this  life.”  I  closed  the  book,  and  went 
home  with  hopeful  feelings,  believing  that  I  had 
conversed  with  God,  that  my  course  was  marked  out, 


TRANSITION  TO  HOLINESS 


109 


that  I  was  on  the  verge  of  the  salvation  which 
I  sought. 

Faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed  was  in  my  heart; 
but  its  expansion  into  full  consciousness  of  spiritual 
life  and  peace  required  yet  another  step,  confession. 
The  next  morning  I  recurred  to  the  passage  which  had 
been  my  guide  in  my  first  conversion:  “If  thou  shalt 
confess  with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  shalt  be¬ 
lieve  in  thy  heart  that  God  hath  raised  him  from  the 
dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved.  For  with  the  heart  man 
believeth  unto  righteousness ;  and  with  the  mouth  con¬ 
fession  is  made  unto  salvation.”  I  saw  in  this  pas¬ 
sage  what  I  had  not  seen  distinctly  before,  the  power 
of  Christ’s  resurrection  as  the  center-point  of  faith, 
and  the  necessity  of  confession  as  the  complement  of 
belief.  As  I  reflected  on  this  last  point,  it  flashed 
across  my  mind  that  the  work  was  done,  that  Christ 
was  in  me  with  the  power  of  his  resurrection,  and  that 
it  only  remained  for  me  to  confess  it  before  the  world 
in  order  to  enjoy  the  consciousness  of  it.  I  determined 
at  once  to  confess  Christ  in  me  a  Savior  from  sin  at 
all  hazards ;  and  though  I  did  not  immediately  have  all 
the  feelings  which  I  hoped  for,  I  knew  I  was  walking 
in  the  truth,  and  went  forward  fearlessly  and  with 
hopeful  peace. 

It  fell  to  my  lot  to  preach  that  evening  at  the  Free 
Church.  I  prepared  myself  during  the  day  for  an  un¬ 
flinching  testimony  against  all  sin.  When  I  announced 
from  the  desk  my  text,  “He  that  committeth  sin  is  of 
the  devil,”  I  felt,  and  I  doubt  not  the  audience  felt, 
that  I  was  entering  upon  a  new  field  of  theology.  I 
insisted  upon  the  literal  meaning  of  the  text,  and  did 


110 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


my  best  to  prove  that  sinners  are  not  Christians.  I 
said  nothing  about  my  own  state,  but  I  knew  that  my 
testimony  would  be  thrust  back  upon  me  and  that  I 
should  consequently  be  obliged  to  confess  myself  saved 
from  sin.  So  in  fact  it  proved. 

I  went  home  with  a  feeling  that  I  had  committed 
myself  irreversibly,  and  on  my  bed  that  night  I  re¬ 
ceived  the  baptism  which  I  desired  and  expected. 
Three  times  in  quick  succession  a  stream  of  eternal 
love  gushed  through  my  heart,  and  rolled  back  again 
to  its  source.  “Joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory” 
filled  my  soul.  All  fear  and  doubt  and  condemnation 
passed  away.  I  knew  that  my  heart  was  clean,  and 
that  the  Father  and  the  Son  had  come  and  made  it 
their  abode. 

The  next  morning  one  of  the  theological  students, 
who  had  heard  my  discourse  at  the  Free  Church  the 
evening  before,  came  to  labor  with  me  in  relation  to 
it.  He  thought  it  altogether  too  stringent,  and  wished 
to  know  if  I  really  meant  what  I  said,  that  a  sinner 
cannot  be  a  Christian.  I  assured  him  that  I  did  so 
mean.  Then  came,  as  I  expected,  the  argumentum  ad 
hominem.  “If  this  is  your  doctrine,”  said  he,  “you 
unchurch  yourself  as  well  as  others.  Don't  you  com¬ 
mit  sin?”  It  was  a  greater  thing  to  confess  holiness 
in  those  days  than  it  is  now.  I  knew  that  my  answer 
would  plunge  me  into  the  depths  of  contempt;  but  1 
answered  deliberately  and  firmly,  “No.”  The  man 
stared  as  though  a  thunderbolt  had  fallen  before  him. 
At  first  he  seemed  to  doubt  his  own  senses  and  asked 
the  question  again.  When  I  had  convinced  him  that 
I  actually  professed  to  be  free  from  sin,  he  went  away 


TRANSITION  TO  HOLINESS 


111 


to  tell  the  news.  Within  a  few  hours  the  word  passed 
through  the  college  and  city:  “Noyes  says  he  is  per¬ 
fect”  ;  and  on  the  heels  of  this  went  the  report:  “Noyes 
is  crazy.”  Thus  my  confession  was  made  and  I  began 
to  suffer  the  consequences. 

Four  days  after  professing  himself  saved  from  sin 
Noyes  wrote  a  letter  to  his  mother  describing  his  ex¬ 
perience.  His  sister  Charlotte  mentions  in  her  remi¬ 
niscences  seeing  her  mother  standing  in  the  kitchen, 
holding  the  letter  with  wet  hands,  and  exclaiming: 
“What  does  John  mean?” 


v 


CHAPTER  XI 


BEGINNINGS  OF  NEW  HAVEN  PERFECTIONISM 

February  20,  1834,  was  the  date  on  which  Noyes 
first  declared  himself  saved  from  sin.  This  date  was 
ever  afterward  held  most  memorable  by  Noyes  and  his 
followers.  In  the  Oneida  Community  February  20th 
was  regarded  as  a  spiritual  New  Year’s  Day — the 
“high  tide  of  the  spirit”  it  was  called — and  each 
year  it  was  celebrated  with  appropriate  ceremonies. 
The  opposite  date,  August  20th,  was  called  the  “high 
tide  of  the  flesh,”  and  at  that  season  special  aids  against 
temptation  were  often  invoked. 

Confession  of  Religious  Experience 

My  first  effort  after  I  reached  the  shore  of  peace 
was  to  help  Brother  Dutton  out  of  the  deep  waters. 
I  labored  much  to  convince  him  of  the  truth  of  the 
saying,  “God  hath  given  to  us  eternal  life.”  He  as¬ 
sented  to  all  I  said,  but  could  not  realize  and  confess 
eternal  life  in  himself.  Indeed  my  exertions  to  save 
him  seemed  only  to  sink  him  deeper  in  despair.  He 
soon  left  me  and  went  to  Albany,  where  he  became  a 
disciple  of  John  B.  Foot,  and  embraced  the  Wesleyan 
type  of  holiness  which  was  in  vogue  among  the  New 
York  Perfectionists. 


112 


NEW  HAVEN  PERFECTIONISM 


113 


The  first  person  who  joined  me  in  the  faith  of  holi¬ 
ness  was  Abigail  Merwin,  a  member  of  the  Free 
Church  and  a  sister  of  the  young  man  whose  singular 
conversion  was  the  commencement  of  the  revival.  I 
had  no  acquaintance  with  her  at  the  time  when  I  found 
salvation,  but  had  been  informed  a  short  time  before 
that  she  was  under  conviction  and  wished  to  have  an 
interview  with  me.  This  occurred  to  my  remem¬ 
brance  in  the  course  of  the  day  on  which  I  made  my 
confession,  and  I  immediately  called  on  Mr.  Benjamin, 
her  brother-in-law,  with  whom  she  resided,  and  was 
introduced  to  her.  She  appeared  to  be  in  perplexity, 
and  eager  for  the  truth.  After  a  few  preliminary  in¬ 
quiries  and  explanations  I  put  to  her  the  question: 
“Will  you  receive  Christ  as  a  whole  Savior  and  con¬ 
fess  him  before  the  world  ?”  She  answered  promptly : 
“I  will.’'  Immediately  a  manifest  change  came  over 
her  spirit.  Her  countenance  began  to  beam  with  joy. 
She  said  afterward  that  she  received  at  this  time  a 
baptism  of  the  glory  of  God,  which  so  overwhelmed 
her  that  she  seemed  on  the  point  of  passing  to  the 
other  world. 

The  next  morning  at  the  prayer-meeting,  which  she 
as  well  as  I  usually  attended,  I  stood  up  with  a  hymn- 
book  in  my  hand  and  remarked  that  I  was  about  to 
read  a  hymn  which  we  had  often  sung  with  the  mouth 
but  never  with  the  heart.  I  requested  that  all  who 
could  now  sing  it  in  earnest,  realizing  and  appropriat¬ 
ing  its  sentiments,  should  stand  up  and  sing  it  with  me. 
I  then  read  the  following: 

“Welcome,  welcome,  dear  Redeemer, 

Welcome  to  this  heart  of  mine. 


/ 


114 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


Lord,  I  make  a  full  surrender; 

Every  power  and  thought  be  thine; 

Thine  entirely 
Through  eternal  ages  thine. 

‘‘Known  to  all  to  be  thy  mansion, 

Earth  and  hell  will  disappear, 

Or  in  vain  attempt  possession, 

When  they  find  the  Lord  is  near. 

Shout,  O  Zion! 

Shout,  ye  saints,  the  Lord  is  here!” 

Abigail  Merwin  and  one  other  woman  stood  up,  and 
we  sang  the  hymn  together.  Thus  she  publicly  pro¬ 
fessed  holiness.  From  this  time  she  made  rapid  ad¬ 
vances  in  the  knowledge  of  Bible  truth.  She  had  a 
surprising  readiness  of  apprehension  and  facility  of 
communication.  Her  testimony  was  bold  and  yet  mod¬ 
est.  Her  power  of  argument  and  her  position  as  my 
first  convert  placed  her  with  me  in  the  front  of  the 
battle  and  in  the  full  glare  of  the  public  gaze,  and  she 
nobly  sustained  the  trial.  Even  the  enemies  of  the 
doctrine  she  advocated  admired  the  serenity  of  her 
spirit  and  the  clearness  of  her  mind. 

The  influence  of  Abigail  Merwin  more  than  any¬ 
thing  else  opened  for  me  an  entrance  into  the  Free 
Church,  and  ultimately  enabled  me  to  overcome  the 
hostility  of  Boyle.  Her  brother-in-law,  Benjamin, 
who  was  deacon  of  the  Free  Church,  his  wife,  and 
Abigail's  brother  immediately  followed  her  in  the  pro¬ 
fession  and  advocacy  of  holiness.  Thus  a  standpoint 
was  gained.  The  leading  men  of  the  Free  Church 
were  taken  by  surprise,  and  until  they  had  time  to  re¬ 
cover  themselves  by  consultation  with  higher  theolo- 


NEW  HAVEN  PERFECTIONISM 


115 


gians  they  were  compelled  to  bow  the  knee  to  the  truth. 
Even  Townshend,  the  father  of  the  Free  Church,  was 
among  the  anxious  inquirers;  and  Stephen  Cook,  the 
publisher  of  the  Christian  Spectator,  actually  made  a 
partial  and  temporary  profession  of  holiness. 

In  the  meantime  I  was  busily  engaged  in  circulating 
my  new  views  in  other  ways.  I  wrote  letters  giving 
an  account  of  my  experience  to  an  extensive  circle  of 
friends  with  whom  I  was  in  correspondence.  On  the 
morning  of  my  declaration  I  received  by  mail  invita¬ 
tions  to  preach  from  three  distant  places.  In  reply  to 
these  proposals  I  defined  my  new  position,  and  stated 
that  the  change  of  my  views  was  such  that  the  appli¬ 
cants  would  probably  not  wish  to  employ  me.  1  wrote 
to  the  Missionary  Brethren  at  Andover  withdrawing 
my  pledge  to  go  on  a  foreign  mission  and  briefly  stat¬ 
ing  my  reasons.  This  drew  from  Champion,  the  mis¬ 
sionary  who  afterward  went  to  Africa,  an  expostula- 
tory  reply  asking  for  a  more  full  explanation  of  my 
course.  I  wrote  again  stating  that  I  felt  bound  to 
withdraw  my  pledge  for  three  reasons :  first,  because  I 
now  knew  that  I  was  not  a  Christian  when  I  made  it ; 
second,  because  I  had  discovered  that  God  was  my 
owner  and  had  the  right  to  direct  me  by  his  Spirit,  and 
therefore  I  had  no  right  to  let  myself  unreservedly  to 
the  missionary  society ;  third,  because  I  saw  that  I  was 
already  on  missionary  ground,  among  a  people  who 
though  professedly  Christian  needed  to  be  converted 
quite  as  much  as  the  heathen.  This  correspondence 
and  other  means  of  report  communicated  much  of  the 
agitation  which  existed  at  New  Haven  to  the  theologi¬ 
cal  seminary  at  Andover. 


116  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

At  the  same  time  I  set  the  press  to  work  scattering 
the  truth.  In  the  heat  of  the  conflict  which  my  confes¬ 
sion  had  brought  upon  me  I  put  on  paper  references  to 
all  the  texts  I  could  find  in  the  New  Testament  indi¬ 
cating  that  perfect  holiness  is  the  standard  of  Chris¬ 
tianity.  A  friendly  printer,  who  was  interested  in 
my  views,  struck  off  for  me  within  a  few  days 
three  successive  hand-bills,  five  hundred  copies  of 
each.  Their  titles  were:  He  that  Committeth  Sin 
is  of  the  Devil,  The  New  Covenant  and  The  Second 
Coming  of  the  Son  of  Man.  These  were  scat¬ 
tered  through  the  city  and  sent  by  mail  in  every 
direction.  Abigail  Merwin  even  dispatched  packages 
of  them  to-  missionary  stations  in  distant  parts  of  the 
world. 

Mr.  Boyle  was  absent  at  a  protracted  meeting  in 
Hartford  when  I  began  the  testimony  of  holiness.  On 
his  return  he  set  himself  to  counteract  my  operations 
in  his  church.  He  preached  on  the  text  which  I  had 
handled,  “He  that  committeth  sin  is  of  the  devil,”  and 
endeavored  to  subvert  the  doctrine  which  I  had  built 
upon  it.  He  prayed  against  the  disturbing  influences 
which  were  coming  in  upon  his  flock.  At  length  I 
called  upon  him.  Our  interview  was  to  me  one  of 
fearful  interest.  I  respected  and  loved  him,  and  was 
afraid  he  would  reject  the  truth.  He  treated  me  with 
a  good  degree  of  politeness,  but  resisted  my  testimony. 
His  cold  words  were  as  daggers  to  my  heart.  Finally 
as  I  was  turning  to  leave  I  asked  him  if  he  would  ex¬ 
amine  the  subject.  A  new  spirit  seemed  then  to  come 
upon  him.  He  answered,  “I  will”  ;  and  we  parted  with 
kind  words  and  hopes  of  continued  fellowship. 


NEW  HAVEN  PERFECTIONISM 


117 


Thenceforth  he  ceased  to  oppose  me  and  began  to  ad¬ 
vocate  the  theory  of  holiness. 

Soon  after  this  interview  he  requested  me  to'  visit 
among  his  church  members,  and  gave  me  several  of 
their  names  and  places  of  residence.  I  traveled  the 
streets  on  this  commission  till  my  feet  were  blistered. 
At  length  Amos  Townshend,  who  at  this  time  had  re¬ 
covered  his  equilibrium  and  was  beginning  to  see  the 
necessity  of  taking  active  measures  to  stop  the  fire  I 
was  scattering,  sent  me  notice  off  a  vote  of  the  church 
requesting  me  to  discontinue  my  communications  with 
its  members.  I  immediately  complied  with  his  request. 

While  these  things  were  passing  I  was  engaged  al¬ 
most  every  hour  in  answering  inquiries  and  disputing 
with  adversaries.  The  students  of  the  College  and 
Theological  Seminary  flocked  to  my  room,  some  to  see 
the  “perfect  man”  as  they  would  go  to  see  an  elephant 
or  any  other  curiosity,  and  others  to  argue  me  down  or 
puzzle  me  with  objections.  At  last  I  was  weary  of 
being  visited  as  a  “show,”  and  I  told  one  theological 
student  that  he  came  to  “quiz”  me  and  refused  to  talk 
with  him.  The  report  of  this  affair  increased  the  belief, 
which  many  were  busily  spreading  in  the  city,  that  I 
was  crazy.  Another  young  man  from  the  College 
called  upon  me,  apparently  to  make  honest  inquiries 
but  probably  from  motives  of  curiosity.  After  an¬ 
swering  his  objections  to  the  doctrine  of  holiness,  I 
began  to  assail  his  conscience  with  the  sharpest  truths 
of  the  word  of  God.  He  became  serious,  turned  pale, 
and  at  last,  when  his  confidence  in  his  carnal  religion 
failed  within  him,  staggered  back  and  fainted.  On 
recovering  himself  he  went  away  and  laid  his  case  be- 


118 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


fore  Dr.  Bacon,  the  pastor  of  the  Center  Church,  who 
helped  him  repair  his  old  hope.  He  never  called  on 
me  again. 

The  flood  of  contention  which  poured  in  upon  me 
from  the  College  and  Seminary  kept  my  intellectual 
powers  in  a  state  of  intense  energy  for  several  weeks. 
I  never  grew  faster  than  at  that  time.  A  feeling  of 
fearful  responsibility  rested  upon  me.  It  seemed  as 
though  God  in  giving  me  the  treasure  of  the  gospel  had 
placed  me  in  the  midst  of  the  keenest  and  fiercest  dis- 
puters  of  this  world,  that  its  defensibility  might  be 
thoroughly  tested.  I  felt  that  I  must  fairly  answer 
every  fair  objection  to  the  doctrine  of  holiness,  or  sink 
myself.  If  I  did  not  satisfy  objectors,  I  usually 
silenced  them ;  and  at  all  events  I  got  hold  of  the  truth 
for  myself  in  the  struggle. 

Within  a  week  or  two  after  my  confession  the  ques¬ 
tion  whether  perfect  holiness  is  attainable  in  this  life 
was  brought  forward  as  a  subject  of  debate  in  the 
Society  of  the  Theological  Seminary.  Dr.  Taylor  was 
in  the  chair.  I  was  specially  requested  to  open  the  de¬ 
bate  by  presenting  a  synopsis  of  my  theory.  I  read 
the  tenth  chapter  of  Hebrews,  and  commented  on  it, 
aiming  to  clear  a  path  for  my  doctrine  by  showing  the 
difference  between  the  law  and  the  gospel.  I  dwelt 
particularly  on  the  ioth,  14th,  and  16th  verses  as 
proofs  of  the  advent  of  perfection  by  the  sacrifice  of 
Christ.  When  I  came  to  speak  of  objections,  I  made 
this  general  remark :  “Holiness  is  the  manifest  object 
of  God  in  all  his  dealings  with  man,  and  especially  in 
his  gift  of  the  Bible.  It  ought  to  be  presumed  there¬ 
fore  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  Bible  which  by  fair 


NEW  HAVEN  PERFECTIONISM 


119 


interpretation  can  be  turned  against  that  object,  or  be 
made  a  hindrance  in  the  way  of  men’s  attaining  it. 
People  who  go  to  the  Bible  for  objections  to  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  holiness  go  to  God’s  own  armory  for  weapons 
to  fight  him  with.”  Dr.  Taylor  had  been  growing 
quite  uneasy,  and  at  this  point  he  interrupted  me,  say¬ 
ing  with  much  heat  that  my  language  was  disrespect¬ 
ful,  and  that  he  would  not  sit  in  the  chair  if  I  was  to 
be  allowed  to  say  such  things.  Much  excitement  en¬ 
sued.  I  stood  still  till  it  passed.  A  motion  was  made 
and  carried  that  I  should  not  be  allowed  to  say  such 
things.  I  submitted  to  it,  and  then  went  through  with 
what  I  had  further  to  say.  The  decision  of  the  debate 
by  Dr.  Taylor  and  also  by  the  Society  was  of  course 
unfavorable  to  my  views. 

During  these  first  days  of  my  experience  in  Perfec¬ 
tionism  I  certainly  did  not  regard  myself  as  perfect 
in  any  such  sense  as  excludes  the  expectation  of  dis¬ 
cipline  and  improvement.  On  the  contrary,  from  the 
very  beginning  my  heart’s  most  earnest  desire  and 
prayer  to  God  was  that  I  might  be  “made  perfect  by 
full  fellowship  with  the  sufferings  of  Christ” ;  and 
from  that  time  till  now  all  my  tribulations  have  been 
occasions  of  thanksgiving,  because  I  have  regarded 
them  as  answers  to  that  first  prayer  and  as  pledges  of 
God’s  faithfulness  in  completing  the  work  then  begun. 
The  distinction  between  being  free  from  sin  on  the  one 
hand  and  being  past  all  improvement  on  the  other, 
however  obscure  it  may  be  to  some,  was  plain  to  me  as 
soon  as  I  knew  by  experience  what  freedom  from  sin 
really  was.  To  those  who  endeavored  to  confound 
that  distinction  and  crowd  me  into  a  profession  of  un- 


/ 


120 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


improvable  perfection  I  said:  “l  do  not  pretend  to 
perfection  in  externals.  I  only  claim  purity  of  heart 
and  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience  toward  God.  A 
book  may  be  true  and  perfect  in  sentiment  and  yet  be 
deficient  in  graces  of  style  and  typographical  accu¬ 
racy.” 

The  sentiment  of  Paul,  “Ye  are  not  under  law,  but 
under  grace,”  was  an  instinct  of  my  heart  rather  than 
a  theory  of  my  head  at  this  time.  I  knew  that  my 
justification  came  at  first  not  by  my  own  obedience  to 
law  but  by  the  infusion  of  the  Spirit,  and  to  the  same 
agency  I  looked  for  its  continuance.  When  those  with 
whom  I  disputed  talked  about  the  vast  breadth  of  the 
law,  criticised  the  minutiae  of  my  outward  conduct, 
and  taunted  me  with  sin,  I  was  content,  if  I  could  not 
satisfy  them,  to  feel  that  God’s  method  of  dealing  with 
me  was  not  like  theirs.  I  perceived  that  his  eye  was 
on  the  root  and  not  on  the  branches  of  my  character, 
and  my  own  eye  instinctively  turned  the  same  way, 
though  my  previous  training  had  tended  to  make  me 
exceedingly  scrupulous  about  externals.  With  the 
consciousness  of  his  approbation  in  my  heart,  I  could 
not  stand  as  a  culprit  at  the  bar  of  the  law  or  torment 
myself  with  doubtful  disputations  of  conscience,  how¬ 
ever  strenuously  my  adversaries  visible  and  invisible 
labored  to  bring  me  into  the  snare. 

Once  only  for  a  moment  I  was  on  the  verge  of  con¬ 
demnation.  The  occasion  of  my  trouble,  however, 
was  not  any  apparent  breach  of  the  common  rules  of 
legality,  but  an  affair  of  quite  an  opposite  character.  I 
found  from  the  time  when  I  yielded  my  whole  heart 
to  God,  that  the  Spirit  which  had  taken  possession  of 


NEW  HAVEN  PERFECTIONISM 


121 


me  was  jealous  of  the  formal  machinery  of  religion  in 
which  I  had  hitherto'  worked.  My  old  conscience  told 
me  to  get  down  on  my  knees  three  or  four  times  in  a 
day  and  pray  by  the  hour  together  as  I  used  to  do. 
But  the  Spirit  manifestly  opposed  this  dictation,  and  I 
found  myself  constrained  to  refuse  going  through  the 
usual  vocal  ceremonies  both  in  private  circles  and  in 
public  meetings.  The  contention  between  my  old  con¬ 
science  and  the  dictates  of  the  Spirit  at  last  came  to  a 
crisis.  While  on  my  way  to  attend  a  meeting,  which 
I  had  been  previously  engaged  to  conduct,  I  was  con¬ 
sidering  what  course  to  take;  and  I  found  myself 
strongly  inclined  by  my  old  habits  to  go  through  the 
usual  forms,  preach  to  “sinners,”  and  try  to  get  up  a 
revival  excitement.  But  something  in  my  heart  re¬ 
sisted  this  impulse.  I  felt  that  God  was  jealous.  His 
spirit  seemed  to  withdraw,  and  my  heart  felt  the  tor¬ 
ture  of  an  infinite  void.  I  realized  the  meaning  of 
those  words,  “My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  for¬ 
saken  me?”  My  body  was  so  weak  that  I  stood  still  in 
the  street,  and  almost  fainted.  But  it  was  only  for  a 
moment.  My  heart  looked  upward  as  it  sank,  and  im¬ 
mediately  I  found  myself  again  in  the  keeping  of  ever¬ 
lasting  love.  And  now  my  old  conscience  was  gone. 
Its  questionings  no  longer  interfered  with  the  dictates 
of  my  spiritual  guide.  I  conducted  the  meeting  with 
a  simplicity  which  was  evidently  mortifying  to  my  old 
revival  friends,  took  the  occasion  to  confess  and  preach 
salvation  from  sin,  and  Went  home  with  a  feeling  which 
a  child  may  be  supposed  to  have  when  it  is  iairly 
weaned  from  its  mother. 

I  had  in  those  days  abundant  evidence  of  God’s 


t 


122  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

providential  care  over  me.  “Good  luck,”  as  the  world 
would  call  it,  met  me  at  every  turn.  I  had  also  a  vivid 
consciousness  of  the  presence  of  God  in  my  heart. 
Paul’s  testimony,  “I  live,  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth 
in  me,”  was  mine.  With  these  blessings  around  and 
within  me  I  had  naturally  a  feeling  of  buoyancy  and 
exultation,  which  exhibited  itself  in  my  demeanor. 
Some  that  watched  for  evil  said  I  was  proud.  I  told 
them  it  was  true;  I  was  proud,  not  of  myself  but  of 
God. 

Not  long  after  the  debate  in  the  Seminary  described 
on  a  previous  page,  Dr.  Taylor  called  at  my  room  to 
notify  me  that  I  was  soon  to  be  tried  by  the  Associa¬ 
tion  which  licensed  me.  He  tarried  awhile,  and  we 
had  a  dispute  of  some  length.  He  complained  of  me 
for  broaching  new  views  in  the  Seminary  without  con¬ 
sulting  him;  apprised  me  that  he  had  dealt  with  one 
Perfectionist  before,  and  had  convinced  him  of  sin; 
and  intimated  that  he  should  serve  me  in  the  same 
way.  I  appealed  to  my  experience,  declaring  that  I 
had  received  the  Holy  Spirit  and  could  not  be  turned 
from  my  course  by  man.  He  laughed  my  declaration 
to  scorn,  asserting  that  it  is  physically  impossible  for 
any  man  to  feel  the  Spirit  of  God.  I  replied  that  I  cer¬ 
tainly  had  felt  the  Spirit  of  God  not  only  in  my  soul 
but  in  every  fiber  of  my  body.  In  the  course  of  the 
conversation  I  insisted  that  his  own  views  of  man’s 
perfect  ability  to  obey  the  law  of  God  led  directly  to 
Perfectionism.  His  answer  in  substance  was,  that 
while  man  was  perfectly  able  to  keep  the  law  and  God 
had  a  perfect  right  to  require  him  to  do  so,  yet  a  “gra¬ 
cious  system,”  in  which  perfect  obedience  was  not  re- 


NEW  HAVEN  PERFECTIONISM 


123 


quired,  would  save  a  greater  number  than  would  other¬ 
wise  be  saved,  and  God  in  his  benevolence  had  there¬ 
fore  adopted  such  a  system.  He  said  that  my  system 
was  nothing  but  the  old  Wesleyan  scheme,  which  had 
been  tried  and  had  failed ;  that  I  might  find  a  few  fol¬ 
lowers  among  ignorant  people,  but  not  among  the  in¬ 
telligent.  I  observed  that  Boyle  was  a  man  of  some 
intelligence  and  that  he  assented  to  my  views.  The 
Doctor  denied  this,  saying  that  he  had  conversed  with 
Boyle  a  short  time  before  and  found  him  not  on  Per¬ 
fectionist  ground.  In  reply  to  intimations  that  I  was 
young  and  not  so  wise  as  himself,  I  claimed  the  advan¬ 
tage  of  him  on  the  ground  that  “he  that  doeth  the  will 
of  God  shall  know  of  the  doctrine.”  He  insisted  that 
he  had  as  much  interest  in  that  promise  as  I.  There¬ 
upon  I  asked  him  if  he  did  not  commit  sin.  He  ad¬ 
mitted  that  he  did.  I  then  repeated  the  text :  “He  that 
committeth  sin  is  of  the  devil.”  “You  say  then,”  said 
he,  “that  I  am  of  the  devil,  do  you?”  “No,”  said  I. 
“You  said  you  committed  sin,  and  I  only  quoted  the 
words  from  the  Bible:  TTe  that  committeth  sin  is  of 
the  devil.’  ”  “Well,”  said  he,  “you  are  a  sinner  now,  if 
you  were  not  when  I  came  in,  for  you  have  not  treated 
me  courteously.”  I  observed  that  the  best  kind  of 
courtesy  in  such  a  case  was  plainness  of  speech.  He 
then  went  away.  This  interview  was  certainly  dis¬ 
tressing  to  me,  for  I  haisj.  great  reverence  and  I  might 
say  affection  for  Dr.  Taylor,  and  dreaded  a  collision 
with  him.  Butdt  left  no  sting  behind.  On  the  con¬ 
trary  I  felt  more  free  and  peaceful  afterward,  as  a  sol¬ 
dier  might  feel  after  having  passed  the  deadliest  spot 
in  the  breach. 


124 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


In  the  latter  part  of  April  I  received  an  invitation 
from  Mr.  Chapman,  pastor  of  the  Congregational 
Church  in  Prospect,  Connecticut,  to  labor  among  his 
people.  I  went  and  remained  ten  days ;  preached  every 
evening  and  three  times  on  each  Sabbath.  Boyle  had 
been  there  before,  and  had  shaken  the  church  to  its 
foundations.  Almost  every  member  of  the  church  was 
cut  down.  It  waii  a  scene  of  overwhelming  interest; 
yet  all  was  still  and  solemn.  Dr.  Taylor  had  said  that 
I  might  find  here  and  there  a  simple-minded  man  or  a 
few  silly  women  to  impose  upon.  But  in  Prospect  the 
very  best  of  the  inhabitants  fell  under  the  sword  of 
God’s  truth,  and  pressed  into  the  kingdom  of  holiness. 

Special  Meeting  of  the  Association  of  the  Western 

District  of  New  Haven  County  in  the  Theological 
lecture  room  at  Yale  College  April  16,  1834 

Mr.  John  H.  Noyes,  at  the  request  of  the  Associa¬ 
tion,  made  a  statement  of  his  peculiar  opinions  respect¬ 
ing  the  doctrine  of  Christian  perfection;  whereupon, 
on  motion  of  Dr.  Taylor,  the  following  resolution  was 
adopted : 

Whereas,  Mr.  Noyes  has  adopted  views  on  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  Christian  perfection,  which  in  the  opinion  of 
this  Association  are  erroneous,  unscriptural,  and  incon¬ 
sistent  with  his  usefulness  as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel, 
and  such  as  in  his  own  opinion  are  inconsistent  with 
his  retaining  his  license; 

Therefore,  Resolved,  that  without  impeaching  the 
Christian  character  of  Mr.  Noyes  this  Association  do 
hereby  recall  his  license  to  preach  the  gospel. 


NEW  HAVEN  PERFECTIONISM 


125' 


Confession  of  Religious  Experience 

The  Association  remained  in  session.  Boyle  sat 
with  them  by  invitation.  On  returning  to  my  room  I 
found  just  arrived  from  the  press  a  quantity  of  the 
tract  entitled  Paul  not  Carnal ,  which  I  had  sent  to 
the  printer  a  few  days  before.  I  took  a  handful,  went 
back  to  the  session  room,  thrust  them  into  the  hands  of 
Boyle,  who  sat  near  the  door,  and  he  distributed  them 
among  the  ministers. 

Soon  after  this  Dr.  Taylor  called  upon  me  again, 
and  signified  to  me  the  wish  of  the  Faculty  that  I  with¬ 
draw  altogether  from  the  college  premises.  My  room 
was  in  the  college  chapel.  My  brother,  who  belonged 
to  the  classical  department,  occupied  it  with  me.  I 
suggested  to  the  Doctor  that  it  would  be  inconvenient 
for  me  to  remove  my  things  immediately  and,  as  my 
brother  would  continue  to  occupy  the  room,  it  might 
be  well  to  allow  me  to  remain  till  the  end  of  the  term, 
which  was  near  its  close.  He  assented,  and  I  remained. 

I  had  now  lost  my  standing  in  the  Free  Church,  in 
the  ministry,  and  in  the  College.  My  good  name  in 
the  great  world  was  gone.  My  friends  were  fast  fall¬ 
ing  away.  I  was  beginning  to  be  indeed  an  outcast. 
Yet  I  rejoiced  and  leaped  for  joy.  Sincerely  I  de¬ 
clared  that  I  was  glad  when  I  got  rid  of  my  reputa¬ 
tion.  Some  person  asked  me  whether  I  should  con¬ 
tinue  to  preach  now  that  the  clergy  had  taken  away  my 
license.  I  replied :  “I  have  taken  away  their  license 
to  sin,  and  they  keep  on  sinning.  So,  though  they 
have  taken  away  my  license  to  preach,  I  shall  keep  on 
preaching.” 


CHAPTER  XII 


GATHERING  CLOUDS 

Confession  of  Religious  Experience 

Charles  H.  Weld,  a  minister  and  the  son  of  a  New 
England  minister  of  some  distinction,  was  living  with 
a  brother  at  Hartford  at  the  time  when  I  commenced 
the  testimony  of  holiness.  He  was  about  twelve  years 
older  than  I.  In  consequence  of  ill  health  of  body 
and  mind  he  did  not  attempt  regular  preaching,  but 
labored  as  an  assistant  of  Dr.  Hawes.  He  was  ac¬ 
quainted  with  Boyle.  They  conversed  about  the  new 
doctrine,  when  the  news  of  it  first  reached  Hartford. 
Boyle  spoke  unfavorably,  but  Weld  cautioned  him 
to  beware  of  rash  opposition. 

Some  weeks  afterward  Weld  came  to  New  Haven 
and  took  lodgings  with  Boyle.  Plis  object  was  to 
put  himself  in  communication  with  me.  Boyle  intro¬ 
duced  us  at  the  close  of  a  meeting,  and  gave  me  some 
account  of  Weld’s  experience.  We  soon  became  inti¬ 
mate.  There  was  much  in  his  character  that  attracted 
my  sympathy.  He  was  profoundly  versed  in  spiritual 
mysteries,  was  highly  intellectual,  and  seemed  to  be 
filled  with  the  most  lovely  benevolence.  We  were 
never  weary  of  conversing.  I  respected  his  apparent 
wisdom  and  was  desirous  of  profiting  by  it. 

I  soon  found  that  there  was  a  tendency  in  him  to 

126 


GATHERING  CLOUDS 


127 


assume  a  fatherly  relation  toward  me.  He  received 
my  communications  on  the  subject  of  holiness  and 
the  second  coming  with  readiness  and  deference,  but 
criticised  my  manner  of  presenting  them  as  being 
too  abrupt  and  alarming.  He  gave  me  to  understand 
that  he  had  exercised  a  paternal  supervision  over 
Finney,  Boyle,  Lansing,  his  brother  Theodore  and 
others;  and  it  was  not  long  before  he  established  him¬ 
self  as  privy  counsellor  to  me.  In  fact  it  appeared 
from  his  account  of  his  experience,  that  he  had  in  a 
certain  sense  preceded  me  in  the  truth.  I  learned  from 
him  that,  when  he  was  at  Andover  some  eight  or  ten 
years  before,  he  passed  through  a  series  of  singular 
spiritual  exercises  in  which  full  redemption  of  soul 
and  body  was  set  before  him  as  attainable  and  was 
promised  to  him  on  condition  of  his  practising  certain 
austerities  for  a  specific  period.  He  failed  to  fulfill 
the  condition,  and  in  consequence  fell  into  a  state  of 
horrible  despair,  from  the  effects  of  which  he  had 
never  entirely  recovered.  This  experience,  however, 
gave  him  so  much  advantage  in  comprehending  and 
judging  my  disclosures,  that  he  considered  himself  as 
in  some  sense  entitled  to  take  the  lead  of  me.  I  did 
not  object,  for  I  certainly  had  no  idea  at  that  time  of 
being  a  leader  myself. 

I  perceived,  however,  in  process  of  time  that  his 
plan  of  softening  down  my  testimony  did  not  work 
well  in  his  own  case.  He  remained  day  after  day  a 
prisoner  to  condemnation,  seeing  the  glory  of  the 
truth  and  talking  about  it  with  abundant  wisdom,  but 
not.  realizing  and  confessing  it  in  himself.  He  was 
like  a  sick  doctor  under  the  care  of  another  more 


i 


128 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


healthy  but  not  so  learned  as  himself.  He  allowed  me 
to  give  him  medicines,  but  took  upon  him  to  direct 
how  they  should  be  mixed  and  when  they  should  be 
administered.  He  was  not  fond  of  strong,  bitter 
doses.  When  1  saw  that  he  was  not  likely  to  get  well 
under  my  practice  modified  by  his  directions,  I  began 
to  fall  back  upon  my  own  judgment  and  proposed 
more  decisive  measures. 

Boyle  was  at  this  time  approaching  the  crisis  of  his 
convictions.  I  had  an  interview  with  him,  and  by  a 
resolute  effort  succeeded  in  bringing  him  to  a  confes¬ 
sion  of  Christ.  The  following  is  an  account  of  the 
scene  in  his  own  words:  “The  question  was  put  to 
me:  ‘Will  you  take  Christ  as  a  whole  Savior V  I 
answered  with  all  my  heart:  ‘I  will/  Instantly  the 
power  of  God  rushed  upon  me  like  a  flood.  The  fire 
was  kindled  upon  his  altar  just  dedicated  to  him,  and 
I  felt  that  I  was  introduced  into  a  new  world.  Old 
things  immediately  passed  away  and  all  things  be¬ 
came  new.” 

Weld  was  present  at  this  interview,  and  was  much 
affected  by  the  truth  that  was  uttered  and  the  events 
that  passed  before  him.  I  endeavored  to  bring  him 
also  to  a  decision  and  partially  succeeded.  But  his 
confession  was  not  prompt  and  unequivocal  lik* 
Boyle’s,  and  was  attended  with  no  satisfactory  results. 
He  remained  some  days  in  his  usual  doubtful  posi¬ 
tion.  At  last  I  told  him  plainly  that  his  mild  method 
of  treating  his  case  would  never  effect  anything;  that 
he  must  look  the  law  of  God  in  the  face  and  submit 
to  the  full  pressure  of  the  truth  that  “he  that  commit¬ 
ted!  sin  is  of  the  devil.”  He  assented  to  what  I  said 


GATHERING  CLOUDS 


129 


and  seemed  willing  that  I  should  deal  with  him  ac¬ 
cording  to  my  own  judgment. 

This  was  on  the  day  of  the  State  Fast.  Boyle  was 
absent  attending  a  protracted  meeting  in  a  neighbor¬ 
ing  town,  and  had  requested  Weld  to  fill  his  place  in 
the  services  of  the  day  at  the  Free  Church.  After  the 
conversation  just  mentioned  he  conducted  the  public 
exercises  of  the  forenoon  in  the  usual  manner  but 
with  considerable  embarrassment.  During  the  inter¬ 
mission  he  told  me  that  he  could  not  preach  in  the 
afternoon,  for  God  had  made  it  clear  to  him  that  I 
ought  to  take  his  place.  I  replied  that  I  had  no  objec¬ 
tion,  if  the  deacons  of  the  church  were  willing.  He 
went  to  Benjamin  and  Townshend  and  obtained  their 
consent.  I  told  him  that,  if  I  preached,  I  should  say 
some  cruel  things.  He  bade  me  follow  my  own  heart. 

He  went  into  the  desk  with  me  and  introduced  me 
to  the  congregation  with  a  frank  confession  of  his 
confidence  in  the  truth  of  the  doctrines  I  taught  and 
I  chose  for  the  subject  of  my  discourse  these  words: 
“I  indeed  baptize  you  with  water  unto  repentance;  but 
an  exhortation  to  candor.  He  then  took  his  seat 
among  the  congregation  on  the  right  side  of  the  house, 
he  that  cometh  after  me  is  mightier  than  I,  whose 
shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  bear.  He  shall  baptize  you 
with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire;  whose  fan  is  in 
his  hand,  and  he  will  thoroughly  purge  his  floor,  and 
gather  his  wheat  into  the  garner ;  but  he  will  burn  up 
the  chaff  with  unquenchable  fire.”  I  had  not  premedi¬ 
tated  at  all,  but  my  thoughts  were  clear  and  my  utter¬ 
ance  free.  My  aim  was  to  show  that  the  ministra¬ 
tion  of  Christ  was  far  more  searching  and  terrible 


i 


130 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


than  any  that  went  before;  that  he  came  for  judgment, 
and  that  judgment  came  by  the  spiritual  revelation  of 
those  fiery  truths  concerning  sin  and  holiness,  which 
were  developed  by  Christ  and  his  apostles  and  which 
were  now  again  manifesting  themselves;  that  we  were 
living  not  in  the  dispensation  of  water  but  in  the  dis¬ 
pensation  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  fire ;  that  we  were 
on  the  floor  of  Christ,  and  his  fan  was  waving  over 
us ;  that  his  Spirit  and  gospel  were  among  us  separat¬ 
ing  the  chaff  from  the  wheat,  and  soon  we  should  be 
in  the  garner  or  in  the  fire. 

In  the  midst  of  my  discourse  I  was  interrupted  by 
a  strange  sound.  I  looked  around  and  saw  Weld  sit¬ 
ting  with  his  eyes  closed,  his  countenance  black,  his 
hands  waving  up  and  down,  and  his  lungs  laboring 
with  long,  rattling  breaths.  It  was  the  most  awful 
scene  of  agony  I  ever  witnessed.  Many  fled  from  it 
in  dismay.  At  length  a  crisis  came.  Weld  gradually 
became  quiet,  and  gleams  of  joy  appeared  on  his  coun¬ 
tenance.  He  stood  up,  and  gazed  slowly  around  upon 
the  people  with  an  eye  of  angelic  brilliancy.  After 
this  he  relapsed  partially  into  his  former  state.  The 
congregation  retired.  I  remained  with  a  few  others 
till  the  paroxysm  passed  off,  and  then  conducted  him 
to  his  room  at  Mr.  Boyle’s.  He  returned  soon  after 
to  Hartford. 

Weld’s  own  account  of  the  immediate  occasion  of 
his  distress  was  this:  From  the  beginning  of  my  dis¬ 
course  the  words  of  my  mouth  were  like  fire  to  his 
spirit.  They  scorched  him  more  and  more  till  he 
could  endure  no  longer,  and  he  thought  of  rising  and 
smiting  me  in  the  pulpit.  Instantly  upon  this  the  word 


GATHERING  CLOUDS 


131 


came  to  him:  “Touch  not  mine  anointed,  and  do  my 
prophet  no  harm.”  Then  he  began  to  sink  into  the 
fathomless  depths  of  despair. 

In  the  latter  part  of  April  I  met  Weld  at  Bethany. 
Since  the  affair  at  the  Free  Church  he  had  remained 
in  an  equivocal  state.  Nevertheless  he  had  continued 
to  communicate  with  the  believers  in  New  Haven,  and 
had  not  lost  his  influence  over  them  or  me.  He  had 
advanced  considerably  in  mysticism.  It  was  evident 
that  he  considered  himself  exalted  by  his  sufferings, 
and  he  was  more  than  ever  inclined  to  be  a  leader  to 
me.  I  was  at  that  time  far  from  being  qualified  or 
disposed  to  pass  judgment  on  his  character,  and  we 
resumed  our  former  relations  with  all  cordiality. 

The  New  York  anniversary  meetings  of  the  clergy 
were  approaching.  Weld  proposed  to  attend  them, 
and  wished  to  take  me  with  him.  The  gathering  of 
ministers  and  religious  persons  from  all  parts  of  the 
country,  which  was  expected  on  this  occasion,  seemed 
to  offer  a  grand  opportunity  for  disseminating  our 
views.  Weld’s  acquaintance  with  the  clergy  was  ex¬ 
tensive  and  might  be  of  service  in  introducing  me 
among  them.  Influenced  partly  by  these  considera¬ 
tions  I  placed  myself  at  his  disposal. 

The  principal  work,  however,  which  I  intended  to 
accomplish  while  in  New  York,  was  one  which,  easy 
as  it  seemed  then,  has  since  proved  to  be  a  labor  of 
many  years  and  is  not  accomplished  yet.*  I  proposed 
to  myself  the  task  of  clearing  Perfectionism  of  the 
disreputable  mysticisms  and  barbarisms  which  had 

*.  . -i  .4 

*  This  was  written  in  1844. — G,  W.  N 


/ 


132  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

begun  to  discredit  it.  A  multitude  of  stories  were 
afloat  about  the  fantastic  sayings  and  doings  of  New 
York  Perfectionists.  Many  of  those  stories  I  knew 
were  true ;  and  conscious  as  I  was  that  the  views  and 
spirit  which  I  had  received  were  diametrically  opposed 
to  those  sayings  and  doings,  I  determined  to  bear  my 
testimony  against  them. 

The  case  was  this.  The  spiritual  department  of  re¬ 
ligion  was  then  even  more  than  now  a  wild  unculti¬ 
vated  region  traversed  almost  only  by  fanatics  and 
spiritual  “squatters.”  Perfectionism  was  essentially 
a  spiritual  development,  and  as  such  was  exposed,  es¬ 
pecially  in  the  inexperience  of  its  infancy,  to  all  the 
diseases  and  barbarisms  of  the  region  to  which  it  be¬ 
longed.  The  thing  to  be  done,  though  I  was  not  then 
aware  of  it,  was  not  to  shield  the  new  colony  from 
the  influences  which  surrounded  it  by  such  partial  de¬ 
fensive  measures  as  disclaimers  and  acts  of  disfellow- 
ship,  but  to  clear  up  and  civilize  the  whole  spiritual 
region.  This  was  not  to  be  accomplished  by  a  pam¬ 
phlet  or  two,  nor  in  any  way  by  a  spiritual  novice.  The 
qualifications  requisite  for  the  undertaking  were  an 
experimental  knowledge  of  spiritual  philosophy,  an 
acquaintance  with  the  principalities  of  the  invisible 
world,  practical  skill  in  discriminating  between  divine 
and  diabolical  manifestations  and  impressions,  and  a 
boldness,  which  rough  experience  only  can  give,  in 
facing  and  exposing  spiritual  impostors.  It  will  be 
seen  in  the  progress  of  this  narrative  that  God,  who 
was  wiser  than  I,  instead  of  allowing  me  to  do  imme¬ 
diately  what  I  intended  to  do  when  I  went  to  New 
York,  put  me  into  a  school  of  terrible  experience 


GATHERING  CLOUDS  133 

where  I  might  gain  the  needful  qualifications  for  my 
task. 

During  our  passage  to  New  York  and  while  we 
remained  there  together  Weld  and  I  conversed  much 
on  spiritual  subjects.  The  turn  which  he  gave  to  our 
communications  was  too  imaginative  to  be  healthy. 
His  mind  ran  on  such  subjects  as  the  official  arrange¬ 
ments  of  the  coming  dispensation,  the  physical  enjoy¬ 
ments  of  the  resurrection  state,  and  spiritual  marriage. 
Holiness  was  not  the  center  of  his  thoughts;  and 
though  it  was  of  mine,  I  yielded  myself  for  the  time 
to  his  leadings,  not  suspecting  snares  and  thinking  him 
my  superior  in  spiritual  judgment. 

We  took  lodgings  at  Tammany  Hall,  where  we 
remained  till  Weld  left  the  city.  We  had  at  first  little 
money,  but  Weld  afterward  obtained  some  from  a 
friend.  The  routine  exercises  of  the  anniversaries  did 
not  attract  much  of  our  attention.  I  noticed  partic¬ 
ularly,  however,  the  “fluttering”  caused  by  the  report 
which  had  gone  abroad  about  New  Haven  Perfection¬ 
ism.  Several  of  the  speakers  alluded  to  that  subject 
in  a  manner  that  indicated  ill  suppressed  bitterness  and 
anxiety. 

I  placed  myself  under  Weld’s  directions  in  regard 
to  my  personal  labors  with  the  clergy  and  others.  He 
sent  me  first  to  an  interview  with  James  Latourette, 
with  whom  he  was  previously  acquainted.  From  the 
conversation  of  Foot,  Dutton  and  others  who  called 
soon  after  our  arrival  I  had  learned  that  Latourette 
was  regarded  as  the  emperor  of  the  scattered  groups 
of  Perfectionists  in  the  state  of  New  York.  I  expected 
to  find  him  far  in  advance  of  myself  in  the  wisdom  of 


134 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


holiness,  and  was  prepared  to  yield  him  due  deference. 
I  was  disappointed.  My  interview  with  him  satisfied 
me  that  he  was  a  self-conceited,  uncivilized  religionist 
of  the  very  class  against  whose  views  and  practices  I 
determined  to  protest.  The  subject  of  our  conversa¬ 
tion  was  the  security  of  the  saints,  i.e.,  whether  a  per¬ 
son  who  had  once  attained  perfect  holiness  could  ever 
backslide  into  sin.  After  considerable  discourse  I 
quoted  the  text :  “Him  that  overcometh,  I  will  make 
a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  my  God,  and  he  shall  go  no 
more  out.”  He  replied  that  he  had  received  that  prom¬ 
ise,  but  he  had  not  thought  it  expedient  to  preach  the 
doctrine,  lest  it  should  beget  carelessness.  Afterwards 
he  invited  me  to  attend  his  meeting  and  speak.  I  said : 
“If  I  speak,  I  shall  preach  the  security. ”  He  answered: 
“Speak  what  the  Lord  gives  you.”  I  attended  the 
meeting,  and  spoke  warmly  and  at  length  on  the  text : 
“Ele  that  sinneth  hath  not  seen  him,  neither  known 
him.”  While  I  was  speaking  he  sealed  what  I  said 
with  an  “Amen”  or  “Hallelujah”  at  almost  every  sen¬ 
tence.  After  the  meeting  there  seemed  to  be  no  small 
stir  in  the  minds  of  the  people  about  my  testimony. 
One  said :  “If  that  doctrine  is  true,  I  am  no  Christian.” 
Another  said :  “I  know  the  doctrine  is  not  true,  for  I 
have  been  converted  and  backslidden  two  or  three 
times.”  So  the  word  went  round.  Immediately 
Latourette  began  to  condemn  my  testimony ;  and  before 
I  had  time  for  argument  roared  upon  me  with  a  voice 
of  thunder:  “Your  doctrine  is  from  hell!  Get  thee 
behind  me,  Satan!”  So  I  left  the  meeting,  overborne 
not  by  argument  but  by  clamor. 

After  this  Weld  directed  me  to  call  on  a  clergyman 


GATHERING  CLOUDS 


135 


by  the  name  of  Ingersoll,  who  was  then  officiating  in 
the  Chatham  Street  Chapel.  This  gentleman,  when  he 
learned  that  I  was  a  Perfectionist,  commenced  an 
assault  upon  me.  “Young  man,”  said  he,  “I  know  all 
about  your  doctrine,  and  I  shall  convince  you  that 
it  is  false. ”  “Very  well,”  said  I.  “If  you  can  do 
what  you  say,  I  shall  be  very  willing  to  give  up  my 
error.  You  shall  have  an  opportunity  to  try.”  There¬ 
upon  we  sat  down,  and  disputed  about  an  hour;  and 
then  parted  certainly  without  his  having  made  any 
headway  in  fulfilling  his  boast. 

By  Weld’s  suggestion  I  next  called  on  Mrs.  Finney, 
wife  of  Rev.  Charles  G.  Finney,  who  was  then  absent 
on  a  voyage  for  his  health.  When  I  made  known  to 
Mrs.  Finney  my  profession  and  my  object  in  calling, 
she  entered  into  conversation  with  me  on  spiritual  sub¬ 
jects  with  considerable  interest.  I  gathered  from  what 
she  said,  that  she  and  her  husband  were  thinking  much 
on  the  subject  of  holiness,  but  were  fearful  of  the 
errors  and  fanaticisms  connected  with  it.  One  of  her 
remarks  was  substantially  as  follows :  “Mr.  Finney 
sometimes  tells  me  that  I  may  be  perfect,  but  that  it 
will  not  answer  for  him,  as  it  would  ruin  his  influ¬ 
ence.”  She  asked  me  to  pray  with  her  children,  which 
I  did.  I  imagined  that  her  object  in  this  was  to  try 
my  holiness  by  flie  “new  measure”  test,  that  is,  to  see 
whether  I  could  pray  well.  Whether  I  acquitted 
myself  to  her  satisfaction  I  never  ascertained. 

Weld  engaged  me  in  discourse  with  several  other 
persons.  At  the  end  of  about  a  week  he  returned  to 
Hartford,  and  I  removed  to  a  boarding-house  in  Leon¬ 
ard  Street,  intending  to  devote  myself  to  writing. 


i 


CHAPTER  XIII 


THE  STORM 

Confession  of  Religious  Experience 

I  come  now  to  a  period  of  three  weeks  in  my  relig¬ 
ious  history,  which  was  full  of  singular  events — so  full 
that  I  find  great  difficulty  in  recollecting  and  arrang¬ 
ing  its  various  scenes.  If  the  time  of  this  period  were 
to  be  measured  by  the  amount  of  experience  through 
which  I  passed,  by  the  sufferings  which  I  endured,  by 
the  mental  progress  which  I  made,  and  by  the  revolu¬ 
tion  of  character  which  was  the  result,  it  might  deserve 
to  be  called  three  years. 

On  sitting  down  to  my  proposed  task  of  writing  a 
tract  on  Perfectionism  I  found  myself  much  strait¬ 
ened  in  spirit  and  mind.  My  thoughts  refused  to  take 
the  direction  which  I  had  prescribed  for  them,  and  I 
soon  became  convinced  that  God  was  calling  my  atten¬ 
tion  to  other  subjects  than  those  I  had  chosen;  that 
the  thinking  I  had  to  do  was  to  be  for  myself  instead 
of  for  others. 

The  first  subject  toward  which  the  instincts  of  my 
heart  turned  was  the  resurrection.  The  gospel  which 
I  had  received  and  preached  was  based  on  the  idea 
that  faith  identifies  the  soul  with  Christ,  so  that  by  his 
death  and  resurrection  the  believer  dies  and  rises  again 
spiritually,  and  thus,  so  far  as  sin  is  concerned,  is 

136 


THE  STORM 


137 


placed  beyond  the  grave  in  “heavenly  places”  with 
Christ.  I  now  began  to  think  that  I  had  given  this 
idea  but  half  its  legitimate  scope.  Why  ought  I  not 
to  avail  myself  of  Christ’s  resurrection  fully,  and  by 
it  overcome  death  as  well  as  sin  ? 

Not  in  a  presumptuous  spirit,  but  under  a  solemn 
sense  of  duty  resulting  from  what  I  regarded  as  logi¬ 
cal  deductions  of  truth,  I  summoned  all  my  powers 
to  an  act  of  faith  in  Christ  as  the  Savior  of  the  body 
as  well  as  the  soul.  A  spirit  of  wrestling  prayer  for 
victory  over  death  came  upon  me.  It  was  not  so  much 
the  act  of  dying  that  I  wished  to  be  delivered  from 
as  the  spiritual  power  of  death  which  broods  over  all 
men.  What  I  sought  I  obtained.  From  that  time  to 
this  I  have  acknowledged  and  felt  no  allegiance  to 
death. 

As  it  has  been  frequently  reported  that  I  have  pro¬ 
fessed  a  belief  that  I  should  never  die,  I  will  briefly 
define  my  position  in  relation  to  this  point.  The  con¬ 
clusions  to  which  I  came  at  the  period  under  consid¬ 
eration,  and  which  I  have  always  avowed  since,  are 
as  follows: 

i.  As  Christ  did  not  scruple  to  say,  “He  that 
believeth  on  me  shall  never  die,”  and  that  too  with 
manifest  reference  of  some  kind  to  the  body  (see  John 
ii  :  26  and  8:  51),  so  the  believer  need  not  scruple  to 
apply  that  language  to  himself.  The  believer  may 
part  with  his  flesh  and  blood,  but  shall  never  part  with 
his  life.  His  true  body — that  which  is  within  his  flesh 
and  blood — is  already  risen  from  the  dead  by  the 
power  of  Christ’s  resurrection,  and  parting  with  flesh 
and  blood  will  be  to  him  no  death.  He  will  pass  into 


1 


138  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

the  inner  mansions  not  naked,  but  clothed  with  his 
immortal  body, 

2.  The  death  of  flesh  and  blood  to  the  believer  is 
not  inevitable.  It  is  not  a  “debt”  which  he  owes  to  the 
devil,  or  to  sin,  or  to  the  laws  of  nature.  His  debts  to 
all  these  tyrants  are  paid.  Christ  has  bought  him  out 
of  their  hands;  and  the  question  whether  he  shall  die 
in  the  ordinary  sense  will  be  determined  not  by  some 
inexorable  necessity,  but  by  the  choice  of  Christ,  and 
of  course  by  the  choice  of  himself  as  a  member  of 
Christ.  “No  man  taketh  my  life  from  me,”  said 
Christ,  “but  I  lay  it  down  of  myself. ”  The  power 
which  he  had  with  respect  to  his  own  life  he  has  with 
respect  to  the  lives  of  those  who  believe  on  him.  As 
members  of  him  they  may  lay  down  their  lives  as  he 
did;  but  no  man  or  devil  takes  their  lives  from  them. 
Accordingly  Paul  balancing  between  the  desire  of  life 
and  death  said:  “What  I  shall  choose  I  wot  not.” 

3.  It  is  certain  from  the  predictions  of  Scripture 
that  the  time  is  coming  when  death  will  be  abolished 
both  as  to  form  and  substance.  It  is  not  to  be  expected 
that  individuals  will  enter  into  this  last  victory  of 
Christ  much  in  advance  of  the  whole  body  of  believers. 
God  is  evidently  preparing  for  a  general  insurrection 
against  the  “king  of  terrors,”  and  we  may  reasonably 
anticipate  the  crisis  and  victory  as  near.  “They  that 
are  alive  and  remain”  till  the  promised  consummation 
will  not  die  in  any  sense,  but  will  pass  from  the  mortal 
to  the  immortal  state  by  an  instantaneous  change,  as 
described  in  1  Cor.  15  :  51. 

My  profession  then  since  1834  has  been  briefly  this: 
If  I  pass  through  the  form  of  dying,  yet  in  fact  I  shall 


THE  STORM 


139 


never  die.  But  I  am  not  a  debtor  to  the  devil  even  in 
regard  to  the  form  of  dying.  No  man  taketh  my  life 
from  me.  I  wot  not  whether  I  shall  choose  life  or 
death.  But  this  I  know,  that  if  I  live  till  the  kingdom 
of  God  fully  comes,  which  I  believe  is  coming,  I  shall 
never  die  in  fact  or  in  form. 

The  first  results  of  the  act  of  faith  which  I  have 
described  were  delightful.  I  passed  one  night  in 
unspeakable  happiness.  I  felt  that  I  had  hurst  through 
the  shroud  of  death  into  the  heavenly  places.  But  I 
soon  found  that  the  spiritual  transition  which  I  had 
made  had  placed  me  in  new  relations  to  evil  spirits  as 
well  as  good,  that  T  had  entered  a  region  where  the 
powers  of  darkness  were  to  be  encountered  face  to 
face  as  I  had  never  encountered  them  before. 

In  the  course  of  the  following  day  a  strange,  murky 
spiritual  atmosphere  began  to  gather  around  me. 
Strange  thoughts  coursed  through  my  brain  unsug¬ 
gested  by  my  own  reflections  and  uncontrolled  by  my 
will.  I  felt  with  shuddering  that  the  Evil  One  was 
near.  But  my  heart  failed  not.  I  still  found  refuge 
in  God  and  felt  that  I  could  defy  the  universe  of  evil 
to  injure  me. 

The  multitude  of  involuntary  thoughts  which  fer¬ 
mented  in  my  mind  finally  settled  into  a  strong  impres¬ 
sion  that  I  was  about  to  part  with  flesh  and  blood 
either  by  ordinary  death  or  by  an  instantaneous  change. 
Nor  was  it  merely  an  impression  that  seemed  to  sum¬ 
mon  me  away.  Ere  long  I  began  actually  to  feel  a 
suffocating  pressure  on  my  lungs.  This  was  not  the 
effect  of  physical  disease,  for  my  organs  of  respiration 
were  healthy  before  and  afterward.  Nor  was  it  the 


140  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

effect  of  excitement,  for  I  had  no  fear  of  death  and 
was  entirely  calm  in  heart.  I  put  my  room  in  decent 
order,  and  lay  down  to  die.  The  pressure  increased 
till  my  breathing  stopped,  and  my  soul  seemed  to  turn 
inward  for  its  flight.  At  this  crisis,  when  I  had 
resigned  myself  wholly  to  the  consciousness  of  dying, 
the  pressure  was  instantly  removed,  and  I  arose  with 
the  joy  of  victory  in  my  heart.  To  my  imagination 
the  transaction  was  as  if  I  had  been  enclosed  in  a  net, 
and  dragged  down  to  the  very  borders  of  Hades,  and 
then  in  the  last  agony  had  burst  the  net  and  returned 
to  life.  This  transaction  was  repeated  several  times. 

After  this  I  went  through  a  protracted  process  of 
involuntary  thought  and  feeling,  which  I  can  describe 
by  no  better  name  than  a  spiritual  crucifixion.  All  the 
events  of  Christ’s  death  were  vividly  pictured  in  my 
mind,  and  by  some  means  realized  in  my  feelings.  I 
went  through  them  not  as  a  spectator,  but  as  a  victim. 
At  length  came  the  resurrection,  and  for  a  time  I  was 
released  from  suffering. 

One  physical  effect  of  the  spiritual  change  which 
had  now  passed  upon  me  was  loss  of  appetite.  From 
this  time  till  I  left  New  York  I  took  but  little  aliment. 
At  times  I  had  a  special  and  excessive  loathing  of  all 
animal  food.  Indeed  I  had  a  strong  impression  (not 
derived  from  any  acquaintance  with  modern  physio¬ 
logical  theories)  that  meat-eating  was  a  barbarism 
which  would  be  abolished  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 
But  this  feeling  did  not  extend  to  marine  food.  My 
general  rule  in  regard  to  diet  was  to  follow  the  orders 
of  instinct.  The  strongest  stimulants  such  as  cayenne 
pepper  suited  my  appetite  best,  and  I  used  them  for  a 


THE  STORM 


141 


time  freely.  I  had  been  previously  for  a  long  time 
dyspeptic  in  my  habits.  But  after  this  tanning  process 
my  stomach  became  a  peaceable  member  of  the  cor¬ 
poreal  community. 

Sleep  also  was  for  the  most  part  a  nuisance  to  me. 
It  seemed  to  be  the  condition  in  which  the  powers  of 
darkness  had  most  advantage  of  me,  and  I  avoided  it 
many  times  as  I  would  avoid  fire.  Partly  for  this 
reason  and  partly  because  a  spirit  whose  will  I  could 
not  resist  constrained  me,  I  spent  many  nights  in  the 
streets.  Oftentimes  after  a  day  of  wearisome  labor 
of  mind  and  perhaps  of  body  I  would  retire  to  my 
room,  hoping  for  this  once  to  enjoy  a  night  of  repose, 
if  not  of  sleep.  But  suddenly  a  horror  of  sleep  would 
come  upon  me,  and  a  spiritual  impulse  would  summon 
me  with  an  importunity  not  to  be  denied  to  a  night 
journey  in  the  city.  When  weariness  overcame  me 
in  these  excursions,  so  that  sleep  became  inevitable,  I 
would  lie  down  on  a  door-stone,  or  on  the  steps  of  the 
City  Hall,  or  on  the  benches  of  the  Battery,  and  for¬ 
get  myself  for  a  few  minutes.  In  this  way  most  of  my 
sleep  for  three  weeks  was  taken. 

In  my  night  excursions  I  was  sometimes  led  into 
the  vilest  parts  of  the  city.  I  went  alone  at  midnight 
into  streets  which  I  had  been  told  were  dangerous 
even  in  the  daytime.  I  descended  into  cellars  where 
abandoned  men  and  women  were  gathered,  and  talked 
familiarly  with  them  about  their  ways  of  life,  beseech¬ 
ing  them  to  believe  on  Christ,  that  they  might  be  saved 
from  their  sins.  They  listened  to  me  without  abuse. 
One  woman  seemed  much  affected.  I  gave  her  a  Bible. 
To  another  I  gave  a  Testament.  Sometimes,  when  I 


142  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

had  money,  I  gave  that  to  the  wretches  whom  I  found 
in  those  dark  places.  These  were  the  only  dealings  I 
had  with  them. 

The  history  of  my  use  of  ardent  spirits  is  this: 
During  my  career  in  legal  religion  I  had  been  a  zeal¬ 
ous  temperance  man,  and  like  other  such  zealots  had 
regarded  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks  as  a  sin.  When 
I  had  proceeded  far  enough  in  my  strange  experience 
in  New  York  to  see  that  my  old  principles  of  morality, 
however  useful  they  had  been  in  the  ways  of  ordinary 
life,  were  not  competent  to  guide  me  in  the  new  world 
which  I  had  entered,  I  began  to  look  about  for  some 
new  system  of  ethics  on  which  I  might  depend  for 
security  from  defilement.  I  saw  that  in  my  circum¬ 
stances,  whatever  might  be  true  of  others,  individual 
free  agency,  which  is  the  mainspring  of  legal  morality, 
was  well-nigh  swallowed  up  in  the  agency  of  superior 
powers.  It  was  evident  that  my  only  hope  of  safety 
lay  in  the  fact  that  God  was  one  of  those  superior  pow¬ 
ers,  and  that  he  was  stronger  than  all  the  rest. 

In  this  state  of  mind  I  felt  impelled  both  by  spirit¬ 
ual  instinct  and  by  principle  to  assert  practically  my 
liberty  from  the  rules  of  my  old  bondage.  The  tem¬ 
perance  law  was  only  one  of  those  rules,  but  it  had 
fixed  itself  in  my  conscience  more  firmly  perhaps  than 
any  other,  and  was  therefore  the  representative  of  all 
legality.  Luther  said  to  his  followers:  “If  anywhere 
anyone  sets  up  the  Sabbath  on  the  Jewish  foundation 
making  the  day  holy  for  the  mere  day’s  sake,  then  I 
order  you  to  ride  on  it,  to  dance  on  it,  to  feast  on  it, 
to  do  anything  that  shall  reprove  this  encroachment 
on  the  Christian  spirit  of  liberty.”  In  the  spirit  of 


THE  STORM 


143 


this  exhortation  I  drank  ardent  spirits,  that  I  might 
reprove  the  spirit  of  legality  which  still  hovered  about 
me,  and  that  I  might  practically  transfer  the  keeping 
of  my  soul  from  the  temperance  pledge  to  the  Spirit 
of  God.  To  the  charge  of  intoxication  from  the 
nature  of  the  case  I  can  only  oppose  my  own  absolute 
denial. 

The  effect  of  the  course  I  pursued  was  such  as  I 
anticipated.  It  loosed  me  from  my  grave-clothes.  It 
established  me  in  a  freedom  from  the  petty  tyranny 
of  fashionable  morality,  which  no  pressure  of  public 
opinion  has  since  been  able  to  subvert.  I  have  found, 
as  I  expected,  that  God  is  able  to  keep  me  from  intem¬ 
perance  and  all  other  evil  without  the  help  of  pledges 
or  the  influence  of  human  combinations. 

It  may  not  be  superfluous  to  suggest  that  it  would 
be  as  unwise  for  any  one  to  attempt  an  external  imita¬ 
tion  of  the  course  I  pursued  without  reference  to  the 
circumstances  and  influences  under  which  I  acted,  as  it 
would  be  for  one  to  take  medicine  by  another's  exam¬ 
ple  without  regard  to  his  own  condition. 

After  the  spiritual  crucifixion  which  has  been 
described  I  received  a  baptism  of  that  spirit  which 
has  since  manifested  itself  extensively  in  the  form  of 
Millerism.  My  doctrinal  views  had  no  affinity  with 
Miller’s  theory  of  the  second  advent.  I  knew  that  the 
first  judgment  took  place  immediately  after  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  Jerusalem,  and  that  it  was  an  event  in  the 
spiritual  world.  Yet  I  expected  a  second  judgment  at 
the  end  of  the  times  of  the  Gentiles.  The  spirit  which 
now  came  upon  me  produced  an  irresistible  impression 
that  this  judgment  was  to  take  place  immediately.  It 


144  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

was  a  terrible  moment,  when  the  red  canopy  above 
seemed  just  bursting  for  the  descent  of  Christ  with 
his  mighty  angels  in  flaming  fire  to  take  vengeance  on 
the  world.  In  that  moment  I  thought  of  the  millions 
who  were  unprepared  for  the  impending  scene,  and 
involuntarily  prayed  that  mercy  might  restrain  judg¬ 
ment.  Thereupon  the  agony  of  immediate  expectation 
subsided.  After  several  similar  crises  the  impression 
wholly  left  me,  and  I  received  in  its  stead  a  persuasion 
that  the  judgment  of  the  world  would  be  a  gradual 
spiritual  operation  effected  by  truth  and  invisible 
power  without  any  of  the  physical  machinery  which 
alarms  the  imaginations  of  most  expectants  of  the 
great  day. 

I  was  next  driven  by  an  invisible  influence  through 
a  course  of  reasoning  on  philosophical  subjects,  which 
entirely  broke  up  all  my  previous  scholastic  theories 
and  reduced  me  to  a  condition  of  universal  doubt.  My 
mind  was  preternaturally  active  and  ranged  with 
astonishing  freedom  over  boundless  regions  of  thought. 
I  imagined  I  saw  with  the  clearness  of  heaven  the 
falsehood  of  the  Copernican  system.  The  earth 
seemed  the  center  of  all  things,  and  I  was  compelled 
to  believe  that  the  special  dwelling-place  of  God 
instead  of  being  above  the  firmament  was  in  the  oppo¬ 
site  direction  at  the  center  of  the  earth.  In  like  man¬ 
ner  all  my  previous  conceptions  of  truth  in  other 
departments  of  science  were  turned  topsy-turvy,  and 
on  their  ruins  arose  the  discarded  theories  of  the 
ancient  world.  I  was  spirit-bound  for  a  time  to  a 
curious  doctrine  of  metempsychosis.  I  thought  that 
every  soul  was  to  appear  in  this  world  four  times  in 


THE  STORM 


145 


different  persons.  For  instance  I  imagined  that  Adam, 
Abraham,  and  Christ  were  the  same  being,  and  that 
this  being  was  to  be  manifested  again  in  the  last  period 
of  the  world. 

When  all  that  the  schools  had  laid  up  within  me  had 
been  prostrated  and  reduced  to  chaos,  I  said  within 
myself :  “The  Bible  stands  firm  nevertheless.  ”  But 
soon  the  destroyer  was  let  loose  on  that  also.  Objec¬ 
tions  to  the  inspiration  and  credibility  of  the  Scrip¬ 
tures  began  to  force  themselves  on  my  mind.  With 
merciless  and  more  than  human  ingenuity  the  spiritual 
intelligence  which  directed  my  thoughts  arrayed  before 
me  all  the  apparent  inconsistencies  and  immoralities 
of  the  Bible,  till  at  last  I  cast  it  from  me  with  abhor¬ 
rence  as  a  monstrous  imposition. 

I  have  said  that  Abigail  Merwin  was  my  first  com¬ 
panion  in  the  faith  of  holiness,  and  that  the  boldness 
of  her  testimony  and  the  beauty  of  her  behavior  in  the 
trying  period  of  our  first  warfare  at  New  Haven 
gained  much  favor  for  the  truth.  It  was  natural  that 
I  should  regard  her  with  peculiar  confidence.  She  was 
the  person  to  whom  I  was  attached  more  than  to  any 
other  on  earth.  From  her  too,  as  well  as  from  all 
other  objects  of  my  previous  confidence,  I  was  sepa¬ 
rated  by  the  spirit  of  doubt  in  my  temptations  in  New 
York.  When  every  other  friend  was  gone,  she  was 
presented  to  me  “in  the  visions  of  my  head,”  and  her 
character  was  subjected  to  the  fearful  test  which 
had  rent  from  me  even  the  Bible.  I  saw  her  stand¬ 
ing  as  it  were  on  the  pinnacle  of  the  universe  in  the 
glory  of  an  angel;  but  a  voice  from  which  I  could 
not  turn  away  pronounced  her  title — “Satan  trans- 


146  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

formed  into  an  angel  of  light.”  I  gave  her  up  as  one 
accursed. 

Still  I  clung  to  Jesus  Christ.  But  ere  long  this 
refuge  also  failed  me.  His  character  on  being  sub¬ 
jected  to  the  diabolical  spirit  of  analysis  which  had 
taken  possession  of  my  intellect  was  gradually  stripped 
of  its  glory,  and  at  length  appeared  preeminently  hid¬ 
eous.  With  agony  I  yielded  to  the  conviction  that  he 
was  the  prince  of  devils. 

Finally  I  said  in  my  heart:  “If  all  science  is  a  lie,  if 
the  Bible  is  an  imposition,  if  Jesus  Christ  is  the  prince 
of  devils,  still  there  is  a  God  in  whom  I  may  trust.” 
Then  the  cloud  of  doubt  began  to  gather  about  the  idea 
of  God.  Satan  took  advantage  of  his  own  abuses,  and 
turned  my  thoughts  toward  the  impositions  that  had 
been  practised  upon  me  by  what  I  supposed  to  be  the 
-'oirit  of  God.  The  Bible  was  gone.  Nothing  but  my 
own  experience  was  left  to  me;  and  when  that  was 
set  before  my  eyes  as  a  series  of  deceptions,  my  belief 
in  God  was  overclouded,  and  the  darkness  of  atheism 
fell  upon  me. 

At  this  point  in  my  trials  a  persuasion  took  posses¬ 
sion  of  me  that  I  myself  was  Lucifer,  the  fallen  son 
of  the  morning.  I  submitted  to  this  impression  with  a 
struggling  resignation  to  the  decree  which  doomed  me 
to  eternal  perdition.  While  in  this  state  of  mind  I  was 
impelled  to  visit  Latourette.  I  found  Harriet  Liver¬ 
more,  the  celebrated  prophetess,  at  his  house.  She 
thrust  at  me  with  many  sharp  words;  and  both  of 
them,  curiously  chiming  in  with  the  accusing  sentence 
that  was  upon  me,  threw  hints  about  Lucifer  in  my 
face.  I  answered  nothing,  but  went  home  in  a  depth 


THE  STORM 


147 


of  sorrow,  below  which  I  have  never  sounded  before 
or  since. 

The  net  of  Satan  had  completely  enveloped  my 
intellect.  Yet  there  was  an  instinctive  consciousness 
of  strength  and  an  imperishable  hope  in  my  heart. 
When  the  spirit  of  darkness  had  done  its  worst,  I 
said  within  myself:  “If  the  universe  is  a  blind  chaos 
without  a  God,  and  the  destinies  of  all  beings  are  to  be 
worked  out  by  their  own  strength,  I  have  as  good  a 
right  to  try  what  I  can  do  for  existence  and  happiness 
as  anybody.  I  will  yet  wrestle  for  victory  over  evil.” 
Then  my  heart  began  to  burn  with  indignation  against 
the  spirit  which  was  abusing  me.  My  will  lifted  itself 
up  apparently  with  the  energy  of  omnipotence  against 
the  adversary.  I  acted  in  the  spirit  of  the  words  of 
Isaiah:  “I  looked,  and  there  was  none  to  help;  and 
I  wondered  that  there  was  none  to  uphold:  therefore 
mine  own  arm  brought  salvation  unto  me;  and  my 
fury,  it  upheld  me.”  The  net  gave  way,  and  imme¬ 
diately  I  found  myself  again  in  an  atmosphere  of  con¬ 
fidence  and  peace. 

The  effect  of  this  mental  overturn  was  permanent. 
I  could  hardly  tell  afterward  what  I  believed  on  any 
subject  till  I  had  investigated  it  anew.  The  rule  of 
mental  economy  which  I  then  adopted  is  this:  What 
we  positively  know  is  all  the  mental  capital  we  can 
count  upon  as  safe  and  available.  What  we  guess, 
believe,  and  hope  to  be  true  is  paper  capital,  that  may 
be  genuine  or  not.  It  is  well  enough  to  have  on  hand 
a  great  heap  of  guesses,  but  we  must  not  think  of  liv¬ 
ing  on  them.  We  should  look  over  the  whole  mass 
of  our  thoughts,  select  out  all  that  we  absolutely  know, 


148  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

and  keep  that  by  itself,  accounting  it  our  specie-basis. 
If  it  is  but  a  small  store,  never  mind.  A  little  silver 
and  gold  is  worth  more  than  a  bushel  of  counterfeit 
bills.  Then  we  may  go  on  to  examine  and  work  up 
our  heap  of  guesses,  so  as  to  convert  them  as  far  and 
as  fast  as  possible  into  known  truths.  This  is  the  only 
way  to  get  and  keep  a  sound  mind. 

I  was  now  learning  rapidly  the  “ways  of  the  world” 
in  which  I  found  myself.  The  deceiver  had  gone  too 
far  for  his  own  interest  in  arraying  before  me  my  past 
delusions  for  the  sake  of  destroying  my  belief  in  the 
existence  of  a  God.  That  array  produced  in  me  a 
more  distinct  conviction  than  I  had'  ever  had  before 
of  the  existence  of  a  devil,  and  of  one  too  who  could 
thrust  himself  into  the  place  of  God  and  imitate  the 
influences  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  I  began  to  feel  freedom 
in  examining  the  credentials  of  invisible  powers,  and 
soon  arrived  at  the  following  conclusion,  which  has 
been  a  valuable  rule  to  me  ever  since :  I  am  bound 
to  believe  and  obey  the  impressions  of  God  but  not 
those  of  the  devil.  I  have  a  right  therefore  to  suspend 
belief  till  I  can  ascertain  whether  an  impression  comes 
from  God  or  from  the  devil.  God  does  not  wish  me 
to  do  otherwise.  If  any  spirit  attempts  to  hurry  and 
drive  me  into  belief  and  obedience,  I  may  be  sure  that 
it  is  a  spirit  of  darkness. 

Toward  the  close  of  my  time  of  trouble  I  attended  a 
church  in  the  city,  where  I  heard  Dr.  Cox  preach.  His 
subject  was  the  righteousness  of  faith,  and  he  took 
occasion  to  speak  severely  and  contemptuously  of  the 
views  of  Perfectionists.  The  next  day,  after  some 
inward  conflicts,  I  yielded  to  an  impulse  which  directed 


THE  STORM 


149 


me  to  call  upon  him.  He  met  me  at  the  door.  I  intro¬ 
duced  myself  by  remarking  that  I  heard  his  discourse 
the  day  before  on  the  subject  of  Perfectionism,  and 
as  I  thought  he  labored  under  some  misapprehension 
of  the  doctrines  of  Perfectionists  I  took  the  liberty  to 
call  upon  him  for  the  purpose  of  making  explanations. 
He  broke  in  upon  me  in  a  rough  way  with  these  inter¬ 
rogations:  “Who  are  you?  I  don’t  know  you  from 
Adam.  Have  you  any  letter  of  introduction?”  I  told 
him  that  my  name  was  Noyes,  that  I  had  been  a  stu¬ 
dent  and  licentiate  at  the  New  Haven  Seminary,  had 
recently  become  a  Perfectionist  and  consequently  had 
lost  my  license.  “Well,”  said  he,  “they  did  right  to 
take  away  your  license.  You  ought  to  be  silenced,  and 
not  allowed  to  go  about  disturbing  the  churches.” 
“Proceed,”  said  I,  “I  can  bear  it  very  well.  I  am 
accustomed  to  abuse.”  Thereupon  he  moderated  his 
tone,  and  invited  me  into  his  sitting-room.  I  found 
there  another  minister,  whose  name  I  do  not  recollect. 
The  Doctor  introduced  me  to  him,  announcing  my 
profession,  and  we  all  directly  entered  upon  an  ani¬ 
mated  conversation  on  the  merits  of  Perfectionism. 
I  explained  and  defended  the  views  which  the  Doctor 
had  condemned,  and  gave  him  some  ideas  on  several 
passages  of  Scripture  which  seemed  to  strike  him 
favorably.  At  all  events  he  became  affable  and  good- 
humored,  and  when  I  proposed  to  leave  he  entered  my 
name  in  his  tablets,  in  which  he  said  he  noted  down  all 
the  new  characters  he  met,  and  courteously  invited  me 
to  call  again. 

If  I  have  failed  in  any  part  of  this  outline  of  my 
New  York  experiences,  it  has  been  in  not  conveying  an 


150 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


adequate  idea  of  the  sufferings  which  I  endured.  It 
seemed  to  me  that  no  human  being  ever  drank  so  deeply 
of  “the  dregs  of  the  cup  of  trembling.”  If  I  had  fore¬ 
seen  from  the  beginning  the  whole  course  before  me, 
I  know  not  whether  I  should  have  had  fortitude  to  face 
it.  But  blindfolded  to  the  future  I  rejoiced  at  every 
breathing-time  that  I  had  escaped  the  past,  and  hope 
proved  elastic  enough  to  rise  from  every  fall.  The 
book  of  Isaiah  was  much  in  my  mind;  and  many  times 
its  beautiful  promises  were  applied  to  my  spirit  with 
healing  and  consoling  power.  Often  in  the  darkest 
hour  the  voice  of  God  would  come  to  my  heart,  say¬ 
ing:  “O  thou  afflicted,  tossed  with  tempest,  and  not 
comforted  ...  in  righteousness  shalt  thou  he  estab¬ 
lished :  thou  shalt  be  far  from  oppression;  for  thou 
shalt  not  fear;  and  from  terror,  for  it  shall  not  come 
near  thee.”  When  I  finally  emerged  from  my  suffer¬ 
ings,  I  had  a  satisfying  consciousness  that  my  life  was 
fire-proof.  I  could  say,  “Hell  has  done  its  worst,  and 
yet  I  live.” 

The  crisis  in  which  my  sufferings  came  to  an  end 
was  marked  by  the  following  circumstance :  My  feet 
had  become  much  inflamed.  Indeed  I  could  walk  only 
with  extreme  difficulty  and  pain.  I  attributed  this 
partly  to  my  much  walking,  and  partly  to  the  accumu¬ 
lation  of  poisonous  matter,  which  according  to  my 
physiological  theory  had  been  driven  down  from  the 
rest  of  my  body  into  my  feet.  In  this  condition  I 
became  sensible  of  a  strong  instinctive  impulse  to  seek 
the  salt  water  and  bathe.  I  went  to  one  of  the  wharves, 
and  sat  with  my  feet  in  the  water  about  half  an  hour. 
On  my  return  I  found  myself  able  to  walk  quite 


THE  STORM 


151 


comfortably,  and  the  next  day  my  feet  were  entirely 
well. 

My  spirit  at  the  same  time  passed  into  a  state  of 
permanent  peace.  One  of  the  sorest  of  my  troubles 
had  been  anxiety  about  money  matters.  I  was  board¬ 
ing  at  an  expense  of  four  dollars  per  week,  and  a  bill 
of  some  twelve  dollars  was  to  be  met.  I  had  no  money, 
and  in  my  desolation  I  knew  no  source  from  which  to 
expect  any.  Yet  I  was  spirit-bound  to  stand  still  and 
wait  on  God  for  deliverance.  At  length  all  my  old 
feelings  of  reliance  on  friends  and  carefulness  about 
money  affairs  were  worked  out  of  me.  I  could  trust 
God  quietly  and  with  assurance  that  he  would  not  fail 
me.  Then  I  became  conscious  that  my  trials  were 
finished,  and  that  in  some  way  I  was  soon  to  return  to 
New  Haven. 

Immediately  a  young  man  who  had  occasionally 
called  upon  me  (being  an  old  acquaintance  from  Ver¬ 
mont)  came  to  my  room,  and  after  some  desultory 
conversation  observed  seemingly  in  an  incidental  way 
that  he  thought  of  writing  to  my  brother  in  New 
Haven.  I  looked  sharply  in  his  eyes  and  said  to  him : 
“You  are  trying  to  deceive  me.  You  think  I  am  crazy, 
and  you  have  already' written  to  my  brother  to  come 
and  take  care  of  me.”  Then  he  confessed  that  he  had 
done  so,  and  in  his  wonder  at  my  detection  of  him  was 
obliged  to  give  up  his  notion  of  my  insanity.  On  the 
day  following  Everard  Benjamin  of  New  Haven  came 
to  my  room,  paid  my  board,  and  took  me  with  him  to 
New  Haven.  After  reaching  New  Haven  I  learned 
with  some  surprise  that  Abigail  Merwin  went  to  New 
York  with  her  brother-in-law,  Benjamin,  and  returned 


152 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


in  the  same  boat  with  him  and  myself.  Her  reasons 
for  keeping  her  presence  from  my  knowledge  I  never 
ascertained.  The  circumstance  however  chimed  in 
suspiciously  with  the  spiritual  impressions  which  I 
received  concerning  her  in  New  York,  and  I  began  to 
anticipate  the  division  which  followed. 

Thus  closed  a  series  of  trials  which,  though  they 
seemed  grievous  while  present  and  left  me  long  after¬ 
wards  almost  without  a  remnant  of  a  reputation,  nev¬ 
ertheless  manifestly  worked  the  peaceable  fruits  of 
righteousness,  established  me  in  the  liberty  of  the 
truth,  weaned  me  from  all  earthly  resources,  enlarged 
my  acquaintance  with  the  spiritual  world,  confirmed 
the  strength  of  my  intellect,  and  gave  to  my  body  a 
vigorous  power  of  endurance  which  it  had  never  pos¬ 
sessed  before  and  which  fitted  it  for  subsequent  labors 
and  trials.  “It  is  a  small  thing  that  I  should  be  judged 
of  man’s  judgment”  to  have  been  either  sinful,  foolish, 
or  insane  in  the  experiences  which  I  have  related.  I 
look  back  upon  them  not  with  shame  or  self-reproach, 
but  with  gratitude  to  God. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


THE  WRECKAGE 

When  Noyes  reached  New  Haven  on  June  13th,  he 
was  received  by  his  Perfectionist  friends  with  much 
kindness,  but  with  evident  suspicions  as  to  his  sanity. 
Definite  word  that  he  was  crazy  had  been  sent  to  Put¬ 
ney  from  New  York,  and  the  family  were  exceedingly 
anxious.  They  wrote  to  Horatio,  who  had  recently 
been  converted  to  Perfectionism  at  New  Haven,  urg¬ 
ing  him  to  let  them  know  the  worst  immediately. 
Horatio  replied  June  17th  as  follows: 

“Dear  sister  Mary: 

“John  came  here  from  New  York  last  Friday.  I 
hardly  knew  what  to  make  of  his  long  silence,  but 
since  he  has  been  here  he  has  satisfactorily  explained 
it.  It  would  take  me  a  long  time  to  tell  you  what  little 
I  know  about  his  proceedings  at  New  York.  I  shall 
therefore  say  nothing  about  them  more  than  this, 
which  I  have  often  said :  You  may  be  sure  that  he 
has  been  in  the  Lord’s  hands,  and  that  he  has  not  been 
suffered  to  do  anything  which  will  bring  reproach 
upon  the  cause  of  Christ.  He  expects  now  to  go  home 
next  week.  When  he  sees  you,  he  probably  will  be 
able  to  satisfy  all  your  doubts  as  to  his  sanity.  Till 
then,  be  patient. 

“I  have  been  tried  in  this  affair  considerably,  and 

153 


154 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


had  I  trusted  to  stories,  should  have  believed  him  a 
downright  madman.  But  blessed  be  the  Lord,  who 
has  upheld  both  him  and  myself  and  kept  our  minds 
in  peace.  I  hope  hereafter  you  will  lay  aside  all  your 
prejudices  and  fears  about  him,  and  believe  him  still 
to  possess  his  right  mind,  and  hear  what  he  has  to  say 
with  a  sincere  desire  to  know  the  truth.” 

On  the  18th  Mrs.  Noyes  wrote  thus  to  Horatio : 

“I  guess  John  has  been  no  comfort  to  you,  and  that 
he  is  pretty  well  broken  down.  I  hope  he  will  come 
home  to  Mother  as  soon  as  possible.  I  think  he  must 
need  her  soothing  influence.  He  must  expect  to  listen 
to  the  voice  of  parental  love  and  solicitude.  I  shall 
not  give  up  my  confidence  in  his  ardent  piety  and  filial 
gratitude  till  I  see  him.  I  hope  he  will  not  think  of 
coming  home  on  foot,  but  be  here  by  the  quickest  con¬ 
veyance  bag  and  baggage.  He  must  not  think  of  doing- 
ready  to  do  all  that  is  reasonable,  and  he  must  be  rea¬ 
sonable.  Let  me  know  everything.  I  am  not  fearful, 
without  assistance  from  his  parents.  His  father  is 
while  I  am  conscious  of  having  done  my  duty.  What¬ 
ever  John  may  think,  I  hope  you,  Horatio,  will  never 
allow  yourself  to  think  that  you  can  dispense  with  any 
precept  of  the  Bible.” 

About  the  end  of  June  Noyes  went  to  Putney.  In 
a  letter  to  Horatio  dated  July  2nd  he  says: 

“My  arrival  at  home,  as  you  may  well  suppose,  was 
a  pleasant  event  to  the  family.  Rumors  of  my  fan¬ 
tastic  performances  in  New  York  had  preceded  me,  and 
Father  had  given  up  all  hope  of  me.  The  rest  of  the 
family  were  in  great  suspense  and  tribulation,  and  the 
good  people  of  our  neighborhood  had  begun  to  avoid 


HORATIO  S.  NOYES 


THE  WRECKAGE 


155 


mentioning  my  name  in  their  presence  for  fear  of 
hurting  their  feelings.  At  first  I  found  some  difficulty 
in  regaining  the  confidence  even  of  my  kindred.  For  a 
day  or  two  some  of  them  hid  their  faces  from  me;  but 
at  length  the  Lord  gave  me  favor  in  their  sight,  and 
now  everything  is  pleasantly  adjusted.  I  went  to 
Chesterfield  the  first  day  after  my  arrival  and  quieted 
Mary’s  fears.” 

Much  curiosity  was  expressed,  wherever  Noyes  was 
known,  in  regard  to  his  New  York  experience,  and 
many  exaggerated  stories  were  put  in  circulation. 
Noyes  related  his  adventures  without  reserve.  He 
says  he  was  conscious  of  innocence  and  of  a  sound 
mind,  and  it  seemed  to  him  a  trifling  thing  that  he 
should  be  for  the  present  an  object  of  ridicule  and  pity 
to  his  acquaintances. 

While  Noyes  was  in  New  York  the  leaders  of  the 
Free  Church  at  New  Haven  dismissed  Boyle  from  his 
pastorship.  At  this  Benjamin  and  the  other  Perfec¬ 
tionist  members  of  the  Free  Church  voluntarily 
seceded,  hired  a  room,  and  commenced  independent 
services  with  Boyle  in  charge.  These  proceedings, 
Noyes  says,  were  premature  and  led  to  a  revulsion  of 
feeling.  The  pecuniary  support  of  the  revolt  fell 
mainly  upon  Benjamin,  who  was  the  only  substantial 
householder  among  the  Perfectionists  at  New  Haven. 
Boyle  and  his  wife  were  quartered  on  him,  and  others 
frequently  gathered  at  his  table.  Disputes  about 
money  matters  soon  began,  and  at  length  there  was  a 
violent  quarrel  between  Benjamin  and  Boyle.  The 
difficulties  at  this  time  were  aggravated  by  reports  of 
Noyes’s  insanity,  and  the  doings  of  a  young  man 


156 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


named  Lowrie,  who  became  unbalanced  and  undertook 
to  imitate  Noyes’s  behavior.  The  outcome  of  the  sit¬ 
uation  is  related  in  a  letter  which  Noyes  received  from 
Dutton  about  three  weeks  after  his  arrival  at  Putney : 

New  Haven,  July  18,  1834. 

Dear  Brother: — .  .  .  What  think  you,  beloved? 
Benjamin  and  wife,  Abigail  Merwin  and  her  brother 
have  apostatized,  not  from  the  faith  but  from  a  pro¬ 
fession  of  it,  and  have  gone  back  to  the  Free  Church. 
Mrs.  Benjamin  says  most  of  those  who  profess  holi¬ 
ness  here  do  not  live  it,  and  thinks  she  may  have  sinned. 
She  and  her  sister  both  say  that  as  the  doctrine  has 
been  preached  free  agency  has  been  destroyed.  I  asked 
her  if  it  was  in  heaven.  She  could  say  but  little,  and 
appeared  to  have  an  arrow  in  her  heart.  I  pity  them 
sincerely.  Depend  upon  it,  Noyes,  the  devil  is  an  arch 
counterfeiter.  He  will  deceive,  if  it  were  possible,  the 
very  elect.  .  .  . 

When  Benjamin  left,  the  Free  Church  men  made  a 
desperate  push  to  demolish  the  whole  fabric,  but  they 
found  some  trees  of  the  Lord’s  planting.  Those  on 
the  rock  feel  the  foundation  sure  amid  the  dash  of  sur¬ 
rounding  waters  and  the  bellowings  of  the  storm.  It 
has  been  a  great  blessing  to  Brother  Boyle  and  wife, 
Smith,  Dudley,  Horatio,  the  Newberrys  and  the  sis¬ 
ters  generally.  It  throws  us  upon  God  wholly.  Brother 
and  Sister  Boyle  have  left  Benjamin,  and  are  now 
without  a  home.  They  will  be  seen  to,  however. 

None  of  us  have  seen  Miss  Merwin  or  her  brother 
since  they  declared  off,  as  they  are  out  at  their  home. 
If  she  has  gone,  as  I  suppose  she  has,  she  has  been 
one  of  the  devil’s  best  counterfeits. 


THE  WRECKAGE 


157 


I  hear  Brother  Husted  has  gone,  or  is  looking  back 
to  the  flesh-pots  of  Egypt. 

Now  for  the  worst :  Brother  Lowrie  has  struck  his 
colors  and  gone  back  to  the  Free  Church.  This  is  a 
hard  blow  truly.  He  got  into  a  Jackson  celebration 
on  the  Fourth  of  July,  and  celebrated  the  day  in  Jack- 
son  style,  thinking  he  was  doing  God  service.  Now 
he  has  come  to  the  conclusion  that  he  sinned,  and  he 
abandons  the  eternal  promise.  Latourette,  he  says,  is 
more  nearly  right  than  you,  and  if  you  had  not  taken 
the  stand  of  never  sinning  again  many  would  have 
come  in.  I  have  not  learned  that  he  did  anything  out¬ 
rageous.  He  arose  early,  'fired  cannon,  drank  wine, 
took  dinner,  and  went  sailing.  I  do  not  think  he 
sinned,  but  believe  the  devil  made  a  fool  of  him.  Poor 
fellow !  He  looks  as  though  he  had  been  hard  pushed 
by  the  Prince  of  Murderers — is  very  thin  and  pale. 
If  he  has  ever  had  the  faith  of  Jesus,  we  know  God 
will  bring  him  forth  as  gold,  but  I  do  not  like  his 
present  attitude. 

With  six  apostasies  you  may  well  suppose  the  devil 
raises  a  shout.  The  Free  Church  men  by  their  out¬ 
breaking  joy  show  the  tremendous  pressure  that  has 
been  upon  them.  Avery  carries  his  head  still  higher 
and  shoots  out  the  lip.  All  the  theological  class  doubt¬ 
less  breathe  more  freely. 


CHAPTER  XV 


A  NEW  START 

Noyes  remained  at  Putney  about  a  month.  His  fam¬ 
ily  had  become  interested  in  Perfectionism  as  a  result 
of  letters  he  had  written  when  he  first  came  into  the 
faith.  They  had  also  been  favorably  impressed  by 
Horatio,  who  had  recently  spent  a  vacation  at  home. 
In  a  letter  to  Horatio  dated  July  2,  1834,  Noyes  thus 
describes  the  situation: 

“Our  sisters  are  yet  unbelievers,  but  they  have  ceased 
to  quarrel  with  the  truth,  and  I  think  the  Lord  is 
showing  them  its  beauty.  Harriet  has  just  returned 
from  school.  Her  mind  is  evidently  greatly  exercised 
on  the  subject,  and  she  proposes  to  devote  this  day  to 
a  solemn  and  earnest  search  for  the  truth.  Mother 
believes  herself  delivered  from  sin,  and  rejoices  in 
the  Lord;  yet  I  think  she  is  in  some  sense  a  captive 
still.  I  have  asked  the  Lord  most  earnestly  to  take  the 
veil  from  before  her  eyes,  and  I  believe  he  will  soon. 
Father  is  much  interested  in  the  views  of  truth  which 
I  present,  and  makes  few  objections.  The  gospel  we 
have  received  accords  better  with  his  habits  of 
thought  and  practice  than  any  of  the  creed-built  sys¬ 
tems  ;  and  I  am  by  no  means  without  hope  that  he  will 
at  last  in  his  old  age  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
without  taking  the  circuitous  route  through  Judaism.” 

158 


A  NEW  START 


159 


Soon  after  his  arrival  at  Putney  Noyes  stated  his 
new  position  frankly  to  Mr.  Foster,  the  Congrega¬ 
tional  minister,  and  to  some  of  the  members  of  his 
church.  The  people,  however,  had  been  warned 
against  the  infection  of  his  ideas,  and  even  his  old 
friends  turned  away  from  him.  Noyes  felt  that  ulti¬ 
mately  he  must  preach  the  new  gospel  publicly  in  the 
village,  but  for  the  present  he  thought  it  best  to  confine 
his  efforts  to  his  own  family.  He  therefore  attended 
the  church  services,  and  scrupulously  avoided  say¬ 
ing  or  doing  things  that  he  thought  might  give 
offense.  But  the  church  saw  trouble  ahead.  Noyes 
writes : 

“At  a  small  conference  meeting  which  I  attended 
the  chairman,  Deacon  Reynolds,  requested  me  to  make 
some  remarks.  I  complied,  but  purposely  avoided  say¬ 
ing  anything  on  the  subject  of  perfection.  I  spoke  of 
the  ‘exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin’  in  terms  not  unusual 
in  the  churches.  In  the  midst  of  my  remarks  Mr. 
Grout,  a  leading  member  of  the  church,  arose  and 
interrupted  me,  saying  with  much  heat  that  he  thought 
it  ‘very  improper  that  Mr.  Noyes  should  introduce  his 
new  sentiments  among  them,  when  he  knew  they  were 
opposed  to  them.’  I  answered  that  I  was  not  aware 
that  the  exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin  was  a  new  doc¬ 
trine  in  the  church.  Mr.  Grout  appealed  to  the  chair¬ 
man,  and  the  chairman  decided  that  I  was  out  of  order. 
I  sat  down  quietly.  But  from  that  time  I  considered 
myself  excommunicated.  Five  years  after  this  affair 
Mr.  Grout  in  a  private  interview  voluntarily  con¬ 
fessed  to  me  that  he  did  wrong  in  his  treatment  of  me 
at  the  conference  meeting,  that  it  had  lain  on  his  con- 


160  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

science  and  he  had  long  wished  to  make  this  acknowl¬ 
edgment.  ” 

The  only  inroad  Noyes  made  on  the  churches  dur¬ 
ing  this  visit  at  Putney  was  in  the  case  of  Silas  Mor¬ 
gan,  the  village  blacksmith.  One  day  when  Noyes 
happened  to  be  at  the  blacksmith’s  shop,  Morgan,  a 
zealous,  combative  Methodist,  started  a  dispute  on  the 
subject  of  perfect  holiness.  Noyes  quietly  took  from 
his  pocket  the  little  polyglot  Bible,  which  he  always 
carried  with  him,  and  expounded  the  Scripture  so 
effectually  that  Morgan,  completely  dumbfounded, 
became  an  inquirer,  and  before  the  interview  ended 
professed  himself  saved  from  sin.  From  that  time  he 
was  a  warm  friend  of  Noyes  and  at  a  later  period  did 
much  valuable  service  in  arranging  meetings  and  pro¬ 
curing  subscribers  for  the  forthcoming  Perfectionist 
paper. 

Confession  of  Religions  Experience 

Before  we  embraced  Perfectionism  Boyle,  Dutton 
and  I  had  discussed  the  plan  of  publishing  a  paper. 
We  had  gone  beyond  the  standard  even  of  the  revival¬ 
ists,  and  there  was  no  paper  published  the  tone  of  which 
satisfied  us.  When  we  became  Perfectionists  the  plan 
was  revived,  and  it  seemed  more  than  ever  necessary. 
For  a  time  the  undertaking  was  held  back  by  the  with¬ 
drawal  of  the  pecuniary  assistance  of  the  apostates, 
Benjamin  and  Lowrie,  who  were  men  of  means;  but 
while  I  was  at  New  Haven  in  June  we  ascertained 
that  Whitmore  &  Buckingham,  the  printers  with  whom 
I  had  dealt  before,  would  print  for  us,  and  shortly 
after  my  arrival  at  Putney  I  received  the  following 


A  NEW  START 


161 


word  from  Boyle :  “We  have  closed  the  contract  with 
the  printers  for  the  paper,  and  are  hoping  to  be  able 
to  get  out  the  first  number  by  the  first  part  of  next 
month.  You  propose  to  remain  where  you  are,  and  do 
whatever  writing  may  devolve  on  you  at  your  present 
residence.  Probably  it  would  be  best  for  you  to  do  so 
for  the  present,  but  we  hope  you  will  hold  yourself 
ready  to  come  on,  whenever  it  may  seem  necessary  in 
the  providence  of  God.  I  wish  you  would  write  the 
prospectus  or  the  introduction  for  the  paper.” 

Ultimately  I  thought  it  best  to  return  to  New 
Haven.  Starting  about  the  end  of  July  I  stopped  a 
few  days  at  Hartford,  where  Boyle  had  recently 
preached  with  great  effect.  Here  I  made  the  acquaint¬ 
ance  of  David  Harrison,  who  became  a  lifelong  friend. 

On  resuming  my  journey  to  New  Haven  by  stage  I 
found  myself  seated  by  the  side  of  a  grave,  elderl)' 
gentleman,  who  proved  to  be  Dr.  Cogswell,  a  clergy¬ 
man.  He  observed,  as  we  were  starting,  that  he  had 
heard  there  was  a  strange  sort  of  people  called  Perfec¬ 
tionists  in  Meriden,  and  said :  “I  should  like  right 
well  to  see  one  of  them.”  Probably  I  should  have  dis¬ 
closed  my  own  profession  immediately,  had  I  not  been 
interrupted  by  a  lady  on  the  seat  opposite  who 
announced  that  she  was  from  New  Haven  and  knew 
all  about  the  Perfectionists.  She  went  on  to  describe 
them  as  monsters  of  impiety,  and  concluded  with  the 
following  home-thrust:  “As  for  that  John  Noyes,  I 
know  that  he  is  nothing  less  than  a  blasphemer,  for  he 
said  in  a  public  meeting  that  he  was  as  perfect  as  God, 
and  my  own  sister  heard  him.”  On  hearing  this  it 
struck  me  that  it  would  be  well  to  let  the  lady  go  on 


162 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


without  the  embarrassment  of  knowing  who  I  was. 
Accordingly  I  answered  in  a  mild  manner,  that  I 
thought  she  must  be  mistaken  about  Noyes,  that  I  was 
somewhat  acquainted  with  him,  and  had  never  heard 
him  say  anything  of  the  kind.  She  insisted  that  her 
statement  was  true,  and  continued  to  inveigh  against 
Perfectionism  and  “that  John  Noyes.”  Dr.  Cogswell 
on  learning  that  I  was  acquainted  with  Perfectionists 
engaged  me  in  a  conversation  about  them.  He  sup¬ 
posed  that  they  must  of  course  be  outrageously  self- 
righteous.  I  told  him  that  they  explained  themselves 
on  this  point  quite  plausibly  by  saying  that  holiness  is 
entirely  the  gift  of  God,  no  more  to  be  credited  to  self 
than  a  garment  given  to  a  beggar.  “Well,”  said  he,  “if 
that  is  their  doctrine,  I  see  nothing  very  frightful 
about  it.”  In  this  way  the  doctrines  of  Perfectionism 
and  my  own  character  and  proceedings  were  pretty 
thoroughly  canvassed  during  our  ride  of  sixteen  miles. 
The  New  Haven  lady  occasionally  broke  in  upon  us 
with  her  hard  speeches,  and  I  noticed  that  a  young 
woman,  who  sat  beside  her  and,  as  I  afterward  learned, 
knew  me,  was  continually  laughing  behind  her  bon¬ 
net.  As  we  approached  the  city  Dr.  Cogswell 
attempted  by  certain  conversational  maneuvers  to  draw 
from  me  some  information  about  myself,  but  I  gave 
him  no  satisfaction.  At  length  just  as  the  coach  drew 
up  before  the  hotel  he  turned  to  me  and  said :  “May  I 
be  so  bold  as  to  ask  your  name?”  I  replied:  “My 
name  is  Noyes.”  “Ah!”  said  he,  striking  his  hand  on 
my  shoulder  with  a  hearty  laugh,  “you  are  the  very 
preacher  we  have  been  talking  about!”  “Yes,”  said  I, 
and  casting  a  glance  at  the  New  Haven  lady,  who 


A  NEW  START 


163 


seemed  to  be  hiding  herself  in  the  corner  of  the  coach, 
I  got  out  and  saw  them  no  more. 

There  was  at  the  time  of  which  I  am  speaking  a 
schoolmaster  in  New  Haven  named  Amos  Smith,  a 
man  of  eccentric  manners,  much  devoted  to  his  pro¬ 
fession,  and  strongly  charged  with  the  peculiar  spirit 
which  that  profession  sometimes  generates.  He  loved 
above  all  things  to  rule  boys,  and  thence  naturally  to 
rule  every  one  whom  he  could  bring  into  subjection. 
His  spirit  was  strong,  his  will  unspeakably  obstinate, 
his  knowledge  of  human  nature  on  a  small  scale  unusu  ¬ 
ally  complete.  The  mysterious  and  sometimes  hideous 
rolling  of  his  eyes  and  the  strange  working  of  his 
widespread  fingers,  his  only  gesture,  gave  an  air  of 
half-inspiration  to  his  arguments  and  exhortations, 
which  immensely  increased  his  power  dver  many 
minds. 

This  man  had  been  connected  with  the  Free  Church, 
and  was  somewhat  distinguished  for  his  spirituality. 
When  Perfectionism  appeared,  he  manifested  consid¬ 
erable  interest  in  it.  He  did  not  decidedly  embrace  our 
views,  nor  did  he  directly  oppose  them,  but  he  assumed 
a  paternal  or  pedagogical  care  over  them.  As  my  will 
was  the  nearest  match  for  his  and  therefore  most 
likely  to  give  him  trouble,  it  was  with  no  little  satis¬ 
faction  that  he  saw  my  supposed  shipwreck  in  New 
York;  and  ever  afterward  he  made  it  his  business  to 
fasten  upon  me  like  an  iron  manacle  the  charge  of 
insanity. 

While  I  was  at  Putney,  Boyle  and  Dutton  came  into 
a  state  of  partial  dependence  on  this  man.  Boyle 
received  much  of  his  maintenance  from  him  after  the 


164  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

defection  of  Benjamin,  and  Dutton  boarded  at  his 
house  and  lodged  in  a  room  belonging  to  his  school- 
house.  Smith  took  advantage  of  this  situation  to 
bring  them  into  bondage  to  himself.  He  evaded  all 
their  demands  on  him  for  confession  of  holiness,  and 
then  turning  upon  them  crowded  their  consciences 
with  the  demands  of  legality.  When  I  arrived  at 
New  Haven,  I  found  them  well  wound  up  in  his  cob¬ 
webs.  The  schoolmaster  had  nearly  silenced  their  tes¬ 
timony  of  faith,  and  was  dragging  them  back  into  the 
old  working  and  praying  system.  Dutton  especially 
was  completely  Smith-ridden  and  Boyle  though  less 
pliable  was  making  no  effectual  resistance.  Smith  was 
particularly  bent  on  preventing  the  publication  of  the 
paper.  He  insisted  that  we  were  only  babes  in  the 
truth  and  ought  not  to  think  of  publishing  at  present. 
His  authority  lay  like  an  incubus  on  the  project. 

I  took  lodgings  with  Dutton,  and  boarded  with 
Boyle,  and  soon  commenced  a  warfare  with  Smith.  I 
pressed  him  with  the  naked  truth  in  relation  to  holi¬ 
ness,  and  he  thrust  at  me  the  usual  insinuations  and 
accusations  of  legalists,  always  adding  venom  by 
repeating  and  enlarging  upon  the  proofs  of  my  insan¬ 
ity.  He  brought  one  charge  against  Dutton  and 
myself,  which  I  found  exceedingly  difficult  to  answer. 
He  said  that  he  had  studied  the  mental  habits  of  young 
men  extensively,  and  plainly  perceived  that  our  minds 
were  in  a  state  of  dissipation.  Now  I  was  distinctly 
conscious  of  intellectual  habits  quite  different  from 
those  to  which  I  had  been  bred  in  academic  life.  The 
tension  of  mind,  which  had  been  enforced  by  classical 
and  legal  discipline,  was  certainly  relaxed,  and  judged 


A  NEW  START 


165 


by  pedagogical  standards  I  could  not  but  acknowledge 
that  I  was  in  some  degree  liable  to  the  charge  which 
he  brought  against  me.  On  a  faithful  inspection, 
however,  of  my  internal  state  I  saw  nothing  to  be 
censured  or  regretted  in  the  course  I  had  taken  nor  in 
the  position  to  which  I  had  come,  and  I  answered  him 
thus:  “We  are  passing  from  the  schools  of  human 
discipline  to  the  school  of  the  Spirit  of  truth;  and  as 
more  or  less  anarchy  always  attends  revolutions  from 
arbitrary  to  free  governments,  so  it  is  not  to  be  won¬ 
dered  at  that  our  minds  in  this  transition  period  are 
not  exactly  in  that  orderly,  mechanical  state  that  suits 
a  schoolmaster.  It  is  better  to  move  into  a  new  house 
even  at  the  cost  of  some  temporary  confusion  and  dis¬ 
comfort  than  to  live  in  an  old  one,  that  cannot  shelter 
us  and  is  ready  to  fall  on  our  heads.” 

My  struggle  with  Smith  was  one  of  the  severest  I 
ever  had.  Day  after  day  we  wrestled  as  for  life.  I 
made  no  impression  on  his  obstinacy;  but  I  had  the 
satisfaction  of  seeing  Boyle  and  Dutton  loose  them¬ 
selves  from  his  hold.  They  soon  stood  erect  again  as 
the  witnesses  of  holiness  and  liberty,  and  we  girded 
ourselves  for  the  work  of  publication  in  the  face  of 
Smith’s  entreaties  and  remonstrances. 

We  had  some  difficulty  in  selecting  a  name  for  the 
paper.  Several  equivocal  titles  were  proposed  by 
Boyle  and  Dutton.  I  insisted  that  our  true  policy  was 
to  hoist  our  colors  boldly,  and  proposed  the  name 
“Perfectionist.”  This  proposal  was  objected  to  at 
first,  but  was  finally  adopted  unanimously. 

The  first  number  was  issued  on  the  20th  of  August 
1834,  and  thenceforward  a  number  was  published  on 


166 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


the  20th  of  each  month  till  the  spring  of  1836.  We 
commenced  without  a  subscription  list,  but  ultimately 
obtained  a  list  of  five  or  six  hundred  names,  Boyle 
hired  a  house  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  city,  and  I 
boarded  with  him.  He  was  the  business  manager  and 
editor-in-chief.  Dutton  remained  in  New  Haven  only 
a  short  time  after  we  commenced  publishing.  I  left 
at  the  end  of  six  months,  and  Boyle  then  became  the 
sole  editor. 

That  six  months  was  on  the  whole  one  of  the  most 
interesting  seasons  of  my  life.  My  heart  was  for  the 
most  part  at  peace  and  well  supplied  with  heavenly 
food.  My  mind  was  busy  with  glorious  and  ever- 
expanding  views  of  truth.  The  correspondence  of  the 
paper  and  its  growing  popularity  and  success  fur¬ 
nished  matter  of  constant  and  lively  external  interest. 
The  meetings  and  other  forms  of  intercourse  of 
believers  in  New  Haven  were  refreshing. 

In  writing  for  the  paper  I  took  much  pleasure  and 
found  much  profit.  The  “dissipation  of  mind,”  of 
which  Amos  Smith  accused  me,  made  it  difficult  for 
me  to  write  in  the  old  mechanical,  sermonizing  way; 
but  I  soon  learned  to  follow  instead  of  force  the  flow 
of  my  thoughts,  and  by  waiting  for  what  poets  call 
the  “moment  of  inspiration”  I  wrote  with  more  satis¬ 
faction  to  myself  than  I  ever  did  under  the  discipline 
of  the  schools.  Boyle  deputed  me  to  write  the  “Intro¬ 
duction”  for  the  first  number,  and  usually  chose  a  dis¬ 
course  from  my  pen  for  the  leading  article  in  each  of 
the  subsequent  numbers  so  long  as  I  remained  in  New 
Ilaven. 

Boyle  and  I  were  generally  agreed  in  our  views  at 


A  NEW  START 


167 


this  time;  or  rather  I  should  say,  we  generally  came 
to  an  agreement  after  some  debate.  As  he  resisted  me 
fiercely  at  the  beginning  on  the  subject  of  holiness  but 
afterward  came  over  to  my  views,  so  he  first  fought 
and  then  embraced  my  testimony  on  several  other 
important  subjects.  In  the  spring  of  1834,  while  we 
were  on  a  visit  together  at  Prospect,  he  threatened  to 
forsake  me  if  I  persisted  in  my  heresy  about  the  sec- 
pnd  coming  of  Christ.  He  said  that  my  doctrine  was 
like  that  of  the  Universalists,  and  that  he  had  written 
a  series  of  sermons  some  years  before  in  opposition 
to  it.  Even  at  the  time  when  the  first  paper  was  pub- 
ished,  he  stood  out  against  me  on  that  subject.  But 
in  the  interval  between  the  first  and  second  numbers 
his  mind  was  opened  to  the  truth.  Accordingly  I  pre¬ 
pared  with  his  consent  the  article  which  was  pub¬ 
lished  on  the  first  page  of  the  second  number  entitled 
The  Second  Coming  of  Christ.  In  like  manner  he 
stoutly  combated  at  first  the  new  views  which  I  pro¬ 
posed  in  relation  to  law.  He  had  preached  law  so 
long,  that  it  was  hard  for  him  to  accept  the  saying  of 
the  apostle,  “ye  are  not  under  the  law,  but  under 
grace” ;  and  we  had  a  warm  dispute  about  it  just  before 
the  commencement  of  the  paper.  He  soon  yielded  the 
point,  however,  and  ultimately  pushed  the  anti-legal 
doctrine  a  great  way  beyond  my  position  and  beyond 
what  I  believe  to  be  the  truth.  I  may  say  that,  in  my 
judgment,  this  was  characteristic  of  his  mind;  first 
to  repel  the  truth  and  then  seize  upon  it  with  ultra¬ 
enthusiasm  and  press  it  to  an  illegitimate  extreme. 

On  several  occasions  at  this  period  he  gave  indica¬ 
tions  of  that  tendency  to  false  fellowships  which  after- 


168 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


wards  led  to  his  alliance  with  Gates,  Beach,  and  many 
other  haters  of  holiness  and  finally  prostituted  his  tal¬ 
ents  to  the  service  of  causes  wholly  foreign  to  the  gos¬ 
pel  of  Christ.  When  such  men  came  among  us  by  his 
introduction  I  withstood  them  to  the  face.  He  laughed 
at  me  for  my  combativeness.  He  has  since  pursued 
his  policy,  and  I  mine.  It  remains  to  be  seen  which 
is  best  in  the  long  run. 

Notwithstanding  these  occasional  and  incipient  dif¬ 
ferences,  on  the  whole  we  worked  well  together.  I 
rejoiced  much  in  the  service  which  he  did  for  the  cause. 
Though  I  could  not  but  be  aware  that  he  was  in  reality 
following  me  in  the  truth,  I  was  very  willing  that  he 
should  have  what  his  external  position  and  his  inclina¬ 
tion  conspired  to  give  him,  the  name  of  being  the 
leader.  I  knew  that,  if  he  proved  true  to  God,  he 
would  do  me  no  injustice  and,  if  he  proved  false,  “a 
lie  would  not  last  forever.”  I  sincerely  loved  him  and 
gloried  in  his  growing  influence. 

It  was  toward  the  end  of  this  period  that  Edwin 
Stillman,  a  Baptist  theological  student  at  New  Haven, 
embraced  the  doctrine  of  holiness.  The  manner  of  his 
conversion  was  this :  He  had  talked  with  Lovett,  and 
had  invited  him  to  call  with  me  on  a  certain  day.  I 
went  with  Lovett,  and  found  at  Stillman’s  room  two 
Baptist  clergymen,  one  the  pastor  of  a  church  in  New 
Haven  and  the  other  a  prominent  theologian  from 
another  part  of  Connecticut.  The  latter  engaged  me 
in  a  dispute  about  holiness,  which  soon  became  warm. 
He  was  arrogant  and  insulting.  At  length  I  told  him 
in  the  plainest  terms  that  he  was  full  of  priestcraft, 
that  he  could  not  speak  the  truth,  that  he  was  a  '‘solid 


A  NEW  START 


169 


lie.”  He  was  so  wroth,  as  he  afterward  confessed, 
that  he  was  tempted  to  strike  me.  He  and  his  brother 
minister  soon  went  away.  I  was  a  little  apprehensive 
that  Stillman  would  stumble  at  my  rough  treatment  of 
the  minister.  But  on  conversing  with  him  it  was  imme¬ 
diately  apparent  that  the  contrary  effect  had  been  pro¬ 
duced.  He  saw  where  the  “bad  spirit”  was.  The 
scene  had  fully  ripened  him  for  a  surrender  to  the 
truth.  After  a  little  conversation  he  knelt  down  with 
us  and  with  tears  in  his  eyes  gave  himself  up  to  a  full 
reconciliation  with  God. 

The  Perfectionist  paper  gave  a  great  impetus  to  the 
cause  of  salvation  from  sin.  Its  influence  was  by  no 
means  measured  by  its  nominal  subscription  list.  It 
was  read  in  grocery-stores  and  post-offices  and  where- 
ever  men  and  women  assembled;  and  though  it  was 
quite  generally  tabooed  by  the  ministers,  it  found  its 
way  into  the  homes  of  many  of  the  elite  among  the 
church  members.  Fourteen  years  later  when  the  Com¬ 
munity  gathered  at  Oneida,  it  was  astonishing  how 
many  of  the  members  had  been  brought  into  the  faith 
either  directly  or  indirectly  by  the  paper  published  at 
New  Haven.  Thus  in  a  short  time  the  loss  due  to  the 
defection  of  the  converts  from  the  Free  Church  was 
much  more  than  made  up. 


CHAPTER  XVI 


RUPTURE  OF  FAMILY  TIES 

Noyes  to  His  Father 

New  Haven,  October  8,  1834. 

Dear  Father : — I  have  received  by  Horatio  your  ad¬ 
vice  that  I  leave  New  Haven,  if  I  am  not  getting  a 
living.  I  think  it  evidently  is  the  will  of  God,  as  it  is 
my  desire,  that  I  should  remain  here  for  the  present. 
Here  I  have  employment  in  various  ways,  which  I 
could  not  immediately  have  elsewhere.  New  Haven 
has  become  in  some  sort  the  center  of  business  in  the 
spiritual  and  intellectual  world.  We  receive  many 
visits  from  persons  residing  at  a  distance,  who  desire 
to  understand  the  gospel,  and  opportunities  are  con¬ 
tinually  presenting  themselves  of  circulating  far  and 
wide  the  knowledge  of  Christ.  The  correspondence 
which  is  flowing  in  upon  us  in  consequence  of  the 
paper  is  by  no  means  small  and  will  unquestionably 
increase.  The  monthly  preparation  of  the  paper  is  no 
great  task,  yet  I  am  much  interested  in  the  work,  and 
wish  to  devote  my  immediate  personal  attention  to 
sustaining  its  interest  so  long  as  the  Lord  shall  per¬ 
mit  its  publication.  Also  I  find  it  profitable  to  visit 
occasonally  the  several  companies  of  believers  which 
have  been  established  at  Prospect,  Meriden,  and  other 

170 


RUPTURE  OF  FAMILY  TIES 


171 


places  in  this  vicinity.  On  the  whole,  though  report 
will  have  it  that  I  have  been  “returned  to  my  friends 
in  a  state  of  utter  derangement,”  it  has  not  seemed 
to  me  expedient  to  endorse  that  report  by  aban¬ 
doning  my  post,  though  that  post  be  “where  Satan’s 
seat  is.” 

As  to  getting  my  living  the  case  stands  thus :  Money 
is  sometimes  offered  me  by  those  who  love  the  truth, 
but  I  say  to  them :  “I  have  no  occasion  for  it  at  pres¬ 
ent.  My  father  has  supplied  me.  Give  it  to  Brother 
Boyle  or  Dutton,  who  need  it  more.”  I  should  unques¬ 
tionably  be  supported  as  they  are,  if  it  were  under¬ 
stood  that  I  desired  it.  As  it  is  I  have  received  a  little 
money  and  many  offers  of  a  home  at  Prospect  and 
Meriden,  which  I  should  accept  if  constrained  to  leave 
this  city.  Room  rent  and  furniture  have  cost  me  noth¬ 
ing  thus  far  and  probably  will  not  during  the  winter. 
My  expense  for  boarding  with  Mr.  Boyle  will  be  as 
small  as  the  case  will  allow,  probably  about  $2.00  per 
week. 

It  is  now  two  years  since  I  have  had  any  claim  upon 
you  for  support  on  the  ground  of  relationship.  What 
you  have  given  I  have  received  as  a  gratuity  with 
thankfulness  both  to  you  and  to  my  Father  in  heaven. 
If  you  are  not  interested  in  the  object  for  which  I 
live,  I  cannot  ask  or  expect  you  to  assist  me.  That 
object  is  that  the  will  of  God  may  be  done  on  earth 
as  it  is  in  heaven.  If  the  object  is  a  good  one  and  you 
consider  me  a  person  fitted  to  further  it,  you  will  not 
account  money  bestowed  upon  me  as  thrown  away. 
It  will  not  perhaps  yield  a  profit  so  immediate  and 
tangible  as  that  of  bank  stock,  but  it  will  help  the 


172 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


building  of  that  kingdom  in  which  you  hope  to  dwell 
forever,  and  into  which  the  kings  of  the  earth  shall 
bring  their  glory.  .  .  . 

Your  son,  J.  H.  Noyes. 

Noyes  to  His  Mother 

New  Haven,  Nov.  2,  1834. 

Dear  Mother: —  .  .  .  As  to  going  home,  though 
1  would  rejoice  to  see  you  and  for  my  own  personal 
comfort  would  be  glad  to  remain  with  you,  yet  many 
reasons  forbid  it  for  the  present.  Besides,  if  Father 
fears  to  involve  himself  in  my  doings,  the  same  objec¬ 
tion  will  lie  against  my  living  upon  him  at  home  as 
abroad ;  for  you  may  be  sure  I  shall  never  rest  till  the 
righteousness  of  God  shall  go  forth  as  brightness  and 
his  salvation  as  a  lamp  that  burneth.  You  must  hedge 
up  Jesus  Christ,  if  you  check  me.  May  the  Lord  give 
you  all  grace  to  say,  Amen. 

Yours  affectionately,  J.  H.  Noyes. 

Noyes  to  His  Sister  Elizabeth 

New  Haven,  Nov.  12,  1834. 

Dear  sister  Elizabeth : — I  exceedingly  marvel  at 
your  letter,  as  I  have  for  a  long  time  at  the  course 
which  Mother  and  some  others  of  my  kindred  have 
pursued  in  relation  to  me.  Let  me  ask  now  kindly 
and  frankly  and  once  for  all,  Am  I  a  boy  or  a  man? 
Am  I  sane  or  crazy?  Am  I  a  wretch  or  a  servant  of 
God?  If  you  think  me  a  boy,  or  crazy,  or  a  reckless 
apostate,  I  commend  your  course,  and  only  ask  you  to 
use  care  in  forming  your  opinion  of  me.  After  that, 


RUPTURE  OF  FAMILY  TIES 


173 


use  persuasion  or  force  to  bring  me  home  or  consign 
me  to  a  hospital.  But  if  you  think  me  a  man  of  com¬ 
mon  sense  and  a  servant  of  God,  I  pray  you  believe 
by  the  help  of  God  that  I  can  best  manage  my  own 
matters,  and  let  your  hearts  have  peace.  I  perceive 
with  pleasure  and  gratitude  that  my  father  is  exempt 
from  the  charge  implied  in  what  I  have  said.  He  bids 
me  act  according  to  the  wisdom  given  me  and,  if  he 
gives  me  nothing  more  than  this  liberal  advice,  I  shall 
be  more  disposed  to  thank  him  than  others  who  offer 
different  assistance  and  withal  claim  the  right  to  dis¬ 
pose  of  my  free  agency. 

Think  you  I  would  not  rejoice  to  go  home  and 
spend  my  days  with  you  in  peace,  if  God  would  show 
me  the  way?  Or  think  you  that  all  the  solicitations  of 
all  my  friends  on  earth  and  all  the  malice  of  men  and 
devils  in  hell  will  induce  me  to  go  home  while  the  Lord 
does  not  show  me  the  way?  I  verily  think  you  are  as 
anxious  about  me  as  if  there  were  no  God,  whose 
wisdom  and  love  is  engaged  for  your  welfare  and 
mine.  I  ask  Mother  and  all  who  sympathize  with  her 
in  her  solicitude  to  inquire  carefully  before  God 
whether  such  solicitude  is  not  selfishness.  You  write 
of  being  in  a  state  of  painful  “suspense”  about  me. 
And  wherefore  in  suspense?  I  can  but  judge  from 
some  expressions  of  your  letter  as  well  as  from  some 
experimental  knowledge  of  human  nature  in  general, 
that  you  are  painfully  suspending  your  judgment  of 
my  character  and  of  the  truth  for  which  I  suffer  on 
the  question  whether  Perfectionism  will  prevail  and 
be  a  popular  cause.  If  this  be  so,  if  you  are  waiting 
for  results  and  not  looking  at  truth,  nothing  but  sor- 


174  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

row  is  before  you  so  far  as  this  subject  is  concerned. 
Your  principle  is  manifestly  a  wrong  one  and  cannot 
bring  forth  good  fruit.  You  ask  Horatio  to  let  you 
know  “the  worst,”  as  if  some  shameful  or  disastrous 
disclosure  of  things  behind  the  veil  might  be  made. 
I  can  only  trust  the  Lord  to  disabuse  you  of  your  sus¬ 
picions,  while  I  declare  that  the  relation  in  which  I 
stand  to  my  friends  at  home  has  given  me  more  trou¬ 
ble  than  anything  else.  It  has  long  been  my  endeavor 
to  avoid  an  explicit  declaration  of  independence  both 
for  your  sakes  and  for  mine.  At  the  same  time  in 
my  last  two  letters,  as  often  heretofore,  I  have  given 
you  such  a  statement  of  my  case  as  I  hoped  would 
satisfy  you  that  I  can  receive  no  assistance  which  shall 
entitle  any  one  but  Jesus  Christ  to  mark  the  pathway 
for  my  feet.  Yet  you  insist  upon  my  coming  home, 
and  counsel  me  about  getting  a  livelihood,  as  if  depen¬ 
dence  was  the  condition  of  your  favors.  (I  speak 
only  of  my  mother  and  sisters.)  Let  me  say  now  for 
your  special  notice,  that  family  considerations  have 
become  with  me  subordinate  to  my  relations  to  God 
and,  if  there  is  any  conflict  between  them,  the  first 
will  be  sacrificed  without  faltering.  I  say  to  you  as 
to  all  others,  I  am  the  Lord’s  freeman  and,  if  you 
show  me  favor,  let  your  motive  be  not  parental  or 
family  affection  but  the  love  of  God  and  the  truth. 
At  any  rate  tempt  me  not  to  act  from  unworthy 
motives.  Read  for  my  sake  Matt,  io:  37,  Mark  3: 

3I"35‘ 

As  to  want  of  money,  while  God  withholds  it  I 
want  it  not.  Yet  my  present  situation,  as  stated  in 
my  last  letter,  is  one  which  I  should  once  have  counted 


175 


RUPTURE  OF  FAMILY  TIES 

Hgttjg m 

necessitous.  Fifty  dollars  would  increase  my  exter¬ 
nal  comfort.  <  Whenever  it  is  absolutely  necessary,  I 
shall  have  it.  Laugh  at  my  faith,  if  you  will,  but  I 
know  that  “no  good  thing  will  the  Lord  withhold 
from  them  that  walk  uprightly.”  The  Lord  has  yet 
thrown  before  me  no  motives  for  leaving  this  city. 
Though  I  am  here  in  a  state  of  dependence  on  those 
who  are  not  my  kindred  according  to  the 
flesh,  I  am  well  content,  for  they  give  me 
thanks  and  love  with  their  money  and  suste¬ 
nance.  If  you  dislike  the  idea  of  my  depen¬ 
dence  upon  others,  I  ask,  Where  will  my  dependence 
be  more  servile,  here  or  at  home?  Here  I  am  writing 
for  the  press  and  preaching.  At  home,  as  you  well 
know,  I  could  do  comparatively  nothing.  And  am  I 
less  in  a  state  of  dependence  on  others  at  home  than 
abroad?  If  you  think  duty  forbids  you  to  succor  me 
here,  I  pray  you  be  not  concerned  about  my  liveli¬ 
hood.  Give  me  up,  Mother!  For  the  Lord’s  sake  give 
me  up!  You  must  either  learn  the  Amen  or  I  cannot 
walk  with  you.  Moreover  I  desire,  if  you  do  not 
receive  the  truth  as  I  do,  if  you  cannot  testify  that 
Jesus  Christ,  he  who  saves  his  people  from  their  sins, 
is  in  you  of  a  truth,  you  may  frankly  say  so.  I  have 
long  lamented  the  case  of  many,  who  in  part  believe 
and  advocate  the  truth  and  yet  have  not  the  living 
witness  within. 

You  will  all  think  this  a  strange  and  perhaps  a  per¬ 
verse  letter.  Receive  it  as  it  is  written  in  the  exercise 
of  that  charity  “which  thinketh  no  evil,  rejoiceth  not 
in  iniquity,  but  rejoiceth  in  the  truth.”  I  was  very 
sorrowful  last  night  while  remembering  Mother’s 


176  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

grievous  cares  and  sickness,  and  prayed  that  she  might 
know  the  fullness  of  him  4 Svho  is  our  peace.”  I  know 
full  well,  if  this  letter  does  not  cure  her,  it  will  trouble 
her.  I  commit  the  result  to  the  Lord. 

Write  me  all  your  mind  soon. 

Your  brother,  J.  H.  Noyes. 

Noyes  to  His  Mother 

New  Haven,  Dec.  2,  1834. 

Dear  Mother : — I  see  by  your  letter  to  Horatio  you 
have  not  quite  given  me  up  yet.  Therefore  I  will  counsel 
you  again  to*  follow  the  footsteps  of  Abraham,  the 
father  of  believers.  Faith  is  the  same  now  as  it  was 
in  Abraham’s  day  in  respect  to  its  nature.  The  God 
of  Abraham  will  not  shrink  from  rending  asunder 
every  earthly  relation.  If  he  bids  me  leave  my  kin¬ 
dred  and  go  out  not  knowing  whither,  I  am  content. 
May  he  teach  you  in  everything  to  give  thanks. 

By  my  last  letter  you  understand  my  circumstances 
and  purposes.  The  course  I  have  chosen  diverges 
widely  from  my  father’s  plans  and,  as  I  am  assured 
the  Lord  will  never  require  or  suffer  me  to  change  that 
course,  we  may  as  well  now  as  ever  part  in  peace.  I 
have  paid  Horatio  a  part  of  the  money  I  borrowed  of 
him,  and  shall  soon  pay  the  remainder  and  borrow  no 
more.  I  now  owe  but  a  few  dollars  in  this  city  or 
elsewhere  and,  the  Lord  prospering  my  plans,  I  shall 
be  free  next  week.  Thereafter,  unless  some  other  way 
is  opened,  I  shall  leave  this  city  and  cast  myself  on  the 
providence  of  God  for  employment  and  support. 
Brother  Boyle,  not  “having  abjured  the  faith”  but 
holding  it  unwaveringly  in  the  midst  of  calumny  and 


RUPTURE  OF  FAMILY  TIES 


177 


embarrassment,  will  remain  the  editor  of  the  paper. 
Instead  of  my  supporting  him  he  has  rather  supported 
me,  and  still  says,  while  he  has  a  shelter  and  a  table 
I  shall  not  want.  But  we  have  all  been  sometimes 
straitened.  Our  brethren  are  not  very  numerous  or 
wealthy  in  this  region  and  I  choose  to  relieve  them, 
if  possible,  of  their  charges  respecting  me. 

As  you  desired  to  know  my  plans,  I  have  told  you 
all  I  know  at  present.  Perhaps  before  tomorrow  every¬ 
thing  will  be  changed.  I  live  by  no  sure  rule  of  cal¬ 
culation  except  the  faithfulness  of  God.  Therefore, 
if  you  would  have  peace  so  far  as  I  am  concerned, 
you  must  make  no  calculation  other  than  that.  .  .  . 

Your  son, 

J.  H.  Noyes. 


CHAPTER  XVII 


SECURITY  AND  FREEDOM  FROM  RAW 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Noyes  in  his  original 
approach  to  the  doctrine  of  salvation  from  sin  made 
use  of  an  historical  argument.  In  the  early  numbers 
of  The  Perfectionist  he  reached  the  same  conclusion 
by  bringing  into  view  the  distinction  between  the  so- 
called  “old”  and  “new”  covenants  as  described  in  the 
Bible,  and  in  elucidating  the  subject  from  this  angle 
he  deduced  two  principles,  security  and  freedom  from 
law,  which,  vaguely  apprehended  at  first  but  now 
clearly  defined  and  incorporated  in  the  conception  of 
salvation  from  sin,  had  a  marked  influence  on  the 
course  of  events  during  the  next  three  years. 

The  idea  of  security  undoubtedly  fitted  in  better 
with  Noyes’s  temperament  than  the  Wesleyan  doc¬ 
trine  of  the  possibility  of  a  “fall  from  grace.”  The 
same  tendency,  which  we  have  observed,  to  do  nothing 
by  halves,  to  follow  up  every  principle  to  its  logical 
ultimate  conclusion,  led  him  first  to  seek  entire  free¬ 
dom  from  sin  instead  of  partial  freedom,  and  then  to 
believe  that  salvation  from  sin  once  attained  was  for¬ 
ever  secure.  Accordingly  we  find  the  germ  of  the 
doctrine  of  security  expressed  in  his  first  written 
description  of  his  experience  as  a  Perfectionist.  In 
his  letter  to  his  mother  dated  February  24,  1834,  he 

178 


SECURITY  AND  FREEDOM 


179 


declares  himself  not  only  free  from  all  present  sin  but 
also  in  possession  of  “full  assurance  of  everlasting 
glory.” 

Although  Noyes  was  aware  that  the  Wesleyans  gen¬ 
erally  rejected  the  doctrine  of  security,  he  was  at  first 
under  the  impression  that  the  New  York  Perfection¬ 
ists  believed  as  he  did  on  this  important  question.  He 
found,  however,  during  his  sojourn  in  New  York  in 
May  1834  that  this  was  not  the  case.  On  that  occa¬ 
sion  he  discussed  the  doctrine  of  security  with  Latou- 
rette,  the  leader  of  the  New  York  Perfectionists,  and 
was  violently  repulsed  by  him  on  account  of  it.  A 
little  later  at  New  Haven  he  had  an  interview  with 
John  B.  Foot,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Albany  Per¬ 
fectionists,  and  Chauncey  Dutton,  whose  sister  was  a 
member  of  the  Albany  group  and  whose  conversion 
to  Perfectionism  had  recently  been  brought  about  by 
Foot.  In  this  interview  for  the  first  time  the  doctrine 
of  security  came  up  for  discussion  between  him  and 
the  Albany  Perfectionists.  Foot  immediately  rejected 
the  doctrine,  not  indeed  so  violently  as  Latourette  had 
done,  but  decisively.  Dutton  on  the  other  hand 
promptly  embraced  it,  saying  to  Foot:  “This  is  just 
what  I  have  wanted  from  the  beginning.  Why  did 
you  not  teach  this?”  Foot  and  Dutton  then  declared 
that  all  the  New  York  Perfectionists  were  followers 
of  Wesley  on  the  question  of  security,  and  this  state¬ 
ment  was  confirmed  six  months  later,  when  the  doc¬ 
trine  was  fiercely  denounced  by  the  New  York  Per¬ 
fectionists  in  their  convention  at  Canastota. 

The  doctrine  of  security,  however,  was  adopted  by 
Boyle  as  well  as  Dutton,  and  soon  became  the  accepted 


180  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

view  among  the  New  Haven  Perfectionists.  In  Au¬ 
gust  1834  it  was  written  by  Noyes  into  the  Intro¬ 
duction  to  the  Perfectionist  paper  in  the  following 
explicit  terms: 

We  find  in  the  Bible  as  well  as  in  the  nature  of  the 
case  three  modifications  of  perfect  holiness :  perfection 
in  present  obedience,  perfection  in  security  of  obe¬ 
dience,  and  perfection  in  experience  or  suffering.  .  .  . 

1.  The  holiness  of  Adam  and  of  the  angels  that 
left  their  first  estate  was  perfect  considered  simply  as 
present  obedience  to  the  law,  but  destitute  of  pros¬ 
pective  security,  as  was  proved  by  their  apostasy. 

2.  The  holiness  of  Christ  was  perfect  both  as  pres¬ 

ent  obedience  to  law  and  as  prospectively  secure.  Yet 
in  another  sense  it  was  imperfect  during  his  life  on 
earth,  for  “though  he  were  a  Son  yet  learned  he  obe¬ 
dience  by  the  things  which  he  suffered ;  and  being  made 
perfect  he  became  the  author  of  eternal  salvation  to 
all  them  that  obey  him” ;  “for  it  became  him  .  .  . 

in  bringing  many  sons  unto  glory  to  make  the  captain 
of  their  salvation  perfect  through  sufferings.”  So 
Paul,  while  counting  all  things  but  loss  that  he  might 
overcome  death  by  knowing  the  fellowship  of  Christ’s 
sufferings,  denied  that  he  had  already  attained  the  vic¬ 
tory  or  was  already  perfect;  and  yet  in  the  next  breath 
falling  back  upon  an  inferior  meaning  of  the  word  he 
could  say:  “Let  us  therefore,  as  many  as  be  perfect, 
be  thus  minded.” 

3.  The  present  holiness  of  Christ  on  the  throne  of 
his  glory  and  of  those,  who  having  overcome  by  his 
blood  have  attained  that  likeness  of  his  resurrection 


SECURITY  AND  FREEDOM 


181 


toward  which  Paul  was  urging  his  way,  is  perfected  in 
the  highest  sense ;  it  is  perfect  in  present  obedience, 
perfect  in  security,  perfect  in  victory  over  suffering. 

Perfectionists,  if  they  may  be  allowed  to  designate 
the  place  which  they  hold  on  the  scale  of  perfection, 
universally  claim  to  stand  with  Paul  on  the  middle 
ground  between  the  perfection  of  Adam  and  of  Christ 
— saved  from  sin,  eternally  saved,  yet  “saved  by 
hope,”  waiting  for  the  adoption,  to  wit,  the  redemp¬ 
tion  of  their  bodies. 

Finally  in  Thd  Perfectionist  for  December  20,  1834, 
Noyes  thus  defended  the  doctrine  of  security: 

The  new  covenant  secures  salvation  from  sin  for¬ 
ever.  Salvation  from  sin  in  the  proper  signification 
of  the  expression  is  salvation  from  sin  forever.  What¬ 
ever  interrupts  everlasting  holiness  surely  is  sin,  and 
he  that  ever  falls  into  sin  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have 
been  saved  from  sin.  Certainly  he  was  not  saved  from 
the  worst  of  all  sins,  apostasy.  We  observe  there¬ 
fore  on  this  point  that  the  contrast  instituted  between 
the  old  covenant  and  the  new  decisively  shows  that  the 
latter  secures  salvation  from  sin  forever.  “Behold, 
the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  when  I  will  make  a  new 
covenant  with  the  house  of  Israel  and  with  the  house 
of  Judah;  not  according  to  the  covenant  that  I  made 
with  their  fathers,  in  the  day  when  I  took  them  by  the 
hand  to  lead  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt;  because 
they  continued  not  in  my  covenant,  and  I  regarded 
them  not,  saith  the  Lord.”  It  is  plain  that  the  de¬ 
ficiency  of  the  old  covenant  was  the  fact  that  one  party 
continued  not  in  it,  which  deficiency  by  the  terms  of 


182 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


the  contrast  was  not  to  exist  in  the  new  one.  “This  is 
the  covenant  that  I  will  make  with  the  house  of  Israel 
after  those  days,  saith  the  Lord;  I  will  put  my  laws 
into  their  mind,  and  write  them  in  their  hearts ;  and  I 
will  be  to  them  a  God,  and  they  shall  be  to  me  a 
people/’  Under  the  first  covenant  he  declared  only, 
“I  will  be  to  them  a  God,  if  they  will  be  to  me  a 
people.”  They  sinned  against  him  and  the  covenant 
became  unprofitable.  Under  the  second  covenant  he 
engages  for  the  faithfulness  of  both  parties.  “I  will 
be  to  them  a  God,  and  they  shall  be  to  me  a  people” ; 
for  “I  will  write  my  laws  on  their  hearts.” 

The  other  principle,  which  was  at  this  time  incor¬ 
porated  in  Noyes’s  conception  of  salvation  from  sin, 
was  that  of  freedom  from  law.  In  the  earlier  letters 
describing  his  new  experience  Noyes  scarcely  men¬ 
tioned  the  law,  but  for  a  time  he  instinctively  avoided 
the  self-condemnation  which  his  former  attitude 
toward  the  law  would  have  brought  upon  him.  Dur¬ 
ing  his  strange  experience  in  New  York  City  in  May 
1834  he  suddenly  found  himself  in  a  desperate  battle 
with  legality.  He  began  to  see  that  the  law,  if  allowed 
its  former  authority,  was  an  intolerable  burden ;  worse 
yet,  it  interfered  with  sympathetic  relations  between 
man  and  God,  and  thus  undermined  the  very  citadel 
of  justification.  By  a  struggle  which  cost  him  not 
only  severe  suffering  but  nearly  all  his  friends,  he 
won  the  victory  over  legality  in  his  own  heart.  When 
he  returned  to  New  Haven  a  few  months  later,  he 
found  that  Boyle  and  Dutton  under  the  influence  of 
the  legalist,  Amos  Smith,  had  already  lost  their  sense 


SECURITY  AND  FREEDOM 


183 


of  justification  and  were  on  the  point  of  abandoning 
their  claim  of  salvation  from  sin.  Noyes  girded  him¬ 
self  again  for  a  battle  with  legality,  and  at  last  suc¬ 
ceeded  in  releasing  his  comrades  from  their  captivity. 
Notwithstanding  these  partial  victories,  during  the 
entire  period  while  he  was  connected  with  The  Perfec¬ 
tionist  at  New  Haven  the  standard  of  salvation  from 
sin  was  constantly  endangered  by  the  machinations 
and  attacks  of  legalists.  Under  these  circumstances 
Noyes  was  compelled  to  study  intently  the  relation 
of  the  law  to  the  gospel  of  salvation  from  sin.  The 
starting-point  of  his  investigation  was  the  assertion 
of  Paul,  “Ye  are  not  under  the  law,  but  under  grace.” 
From  this  and  the  whole  tenor  of  the  New  Testament 
on  the  subject  he  argued  that  union  with  Christ  gave 
complete  freedom  from  law.  His  conclusions  were 
published  in  two  articles  in  The  Perfectionist ,  which 
can  only  be  summarized  here : 

“The  Perfectionist”  November  20,  1834 

Righteousness  can  only  be  wrought  in  one  of  two 
ways :  either  by  independent  obedience  to  an  external 
precept,  or  by  yielding  the  powers  to  the  energy  and 
direction  of  God  by  faith  in  Christ.  Before  Christ 
came,  by  whom  the  righteousness  of  faith  was  revealed, 
legality  was  not,  neither  could  it  be,  necessarily  evil. 
On  the  contrary  the  preceptive  law  was  an  institution 
of  God,  and  the  righteousness  which  it  wrought  was 
encouraged  and  regarded  by  him.  The  law  stands  in 
the  same  relation  to  the  gospel  as  John  the  Baptist  to 
Christ.  So  far  as  legalists  adopt  the  confession  of 
John  the  Baptist,  “He  must  increase,  but  I  must  de- 


184 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


crease,”  “There  cometh  after  me  one,  the  latchet  of 
whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  unloose/’  all  is  right. 
But  when  the  law  stands  side  by  side  with  the  gospel, 
when  John  the  Baptist  commences  competition  with 
Christ,  then  all  is  wrong. 

“The  Perfectionist ”  November  20,  1834 

The  new  covenant  gives  liberty  from  external  law. 
This  is  implied  in  the  contrast  presented  between  the 
old  and  the  new  dispensation.  The  new  covenant  is 
“not  according  to  the  covenant”  made  with  the  house 
of  Israel  by  the  mediation  of  Moses.  Under  the  old 
covenant  the  law  was  written  on  tables  of  stone. 
Under  the  new  it  is  written  in  the  heart.  “I  will  put 
my  laws  into  their  mind,  and  write  them  in  their 
hearts.”  External  law  of  necessity  supposes  internal 
depravity.  A  law  that  men  shall  eat  or  sleep  would 
be  ridiculous,  simply  because  all  men  are  sufficiently 
disposed  to  eat  and  sleep.  If  men  were  sufficiently 
disposed  to  love  God  with  the  whole  heart,  a  law 
requiring  them  to  do  so  would  be  equally  ridiculous. 
This  disposition  God  promises  by  the  new  covenant 
to  secure;  and  his  promise  abolishes  his  statute. 
Under  the  old  covenant  God  said :  “Do  according  to 
all  I  command  you,  and  ye  shall  live.”  Under  the 
new  covenant,  where  its  powers  are  fully  developed, 
he  may  safely  say:  “Do  as  you  please;  for  I  promise 
that  your  pleasure  shall  be  mine.  I  will  write  my  law 
upon  your  hearts.” 

Noyes  believed  that  these  two  doctrines,  security 
and  freedom  from  law,  presented  the  central  idea  of 


SECURITY  AND  FREEDOM 


185 


the  gospel  of  Christ,  namely,  salvation  from  sin  by 
the  power  of  God  without  the  law.  But  he  found 
that  they  were  exceedingly  liable  to  be  misconceived 
and  perverted,  and  he  later  restated  them  with  a  view 
to  bringing  out  more  clearly  their  limitations  and  safe¬ 
guards. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


NEW  YORK  PERFECTIONISM 

ft 

“New  York  Perfectionism  ahd  New  Haven  Per¬ 
fectionism,”  wrote  Noyes,  “may  be  regarded  as  twin 
products  of  the  great  religious  revival  which  stirred 
the  heart  of  the  American  nation  in  the  fore  part  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  New  York  Perfectionism 
was  the  elder  by  a  few  months,  and  like  Esau  was 
wild  and  barbaric;  while  New  Haven  Perfectionism 
like  Jacob  was  more  intellectual  and  civilized.  These 
two  schools  of  Perfectionists  in  their  earlier  years 
alternately  fraternized  and  fought;  and  at  last  amal¬ 
gamated  in  the  Oneida  Community.” 

As  we  have  seen  in  a  former  chapter,  the  first  per¬ 
son  in  this  country  who  preached  and  professed  sal¬ 
vation  from  sin  was  James  Latourette.  In  about  the 
year  1828  he  broke  away  from  established  religious 
ideas,  and  became  the  leader  of  a  considerable  congre¬ 
gation  in  New  York  City.  “His  system,”  says  Noyes, 
“was  little  more  than  Methodism  of  the  most  subli¬ 
mated  and  noisy  sort,  his  ruling  passion  being  not 
for  holiness  but  for  signs  and  wonders  and  mighty 
deeds  by  prayer.”  Nevertheless  he  and  his  followers 
were  called  “Perfectionists,”  and  on  account  of  their 
singular  manners  and  beliefs  attained  a  good  deal  of 
notoriety.  Latourette’s  immediate  converts  were 

186 


NEW  YORK  PERFECTIONISM  187 

drawn  chiefly  from  the  vicinity  of  New  York  City 
and  Newark,  which  thus  became  the  primary  distrib¬ 
uting  center  in  America  of  Wesleyan  or,  as  it  after¬ 
ward  came  to  be  called,  New  York  Perfectionism. 

From  New  York  City  in  about  1831  a  colony  of 
Perfectionists  established  itself  at  Albany,  New  York, 
under  the  leadership  of  John  B.  Foot  and  two  sisters 
by  the  name  of  Annesley.  This  Albany  group  proved 
to  be  exceedingly  virile,  and  became  even  more  impor¬ 
tant  as  a  distributing  center  than  its  parent  colony. 
During  1832  and  1833  its  missionaries  went  in  every 
direction,  and  numerous  Perfectionist  colonies  sprang 
up,  the  most  notable  being  those  at  Westfield, 
Southampton,  and  Brimfield  in  Massachusetts,  and  at 
Delphi  in  Central  New  York.  Nor  must  it  be  for¬ 
gotten  that  letters  written  to  Chauncey  Dutton  by  his 
sister  Eliza,  a  member  of  the  Albany  group,  were 
among  the  agencies  that  converted  Noyes  to  Perfec¬ 
tionism  at  New  Haven. 

In  the  counties  of  central  New  York,  which  had 
been  “burnt  over”  by  the  Finney  revivals,  Perfec¬ 
tionism  found  a  soil  exactly  adapted  to  its  needs,  and 
here  at  Delphi  was  developed  a  third  distributing  cen¬ 
ter.  Hiram  Sheldon  began  the  movement  in  the 
spring  of  1833,  and  his  followers,  traveling  two  and 
two  like  the  disciples  of  Christ,  made  converts  where- 
ever  they  went.  Most  prominent  among  these  were 
Martin  P.  Sweet  and  Jarvis  Rider  of  Deruyter,  Eras¬ 
mus  Stone  of  Salina,*  and  David  A.  Warren  of 
Verona.  Within  a  year  Perfectionist  congregations 

*  The  name  of  this  town  was  later  changed  to  “Syracuse.” 
— G.  W.  N. 


188  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

could  be  found  in  a  score  of  towns;  and  in  July  1834 
'  a  correspondent  of  The  Religious  Intelligencer  writ¬ 
ing  from  Cortland  County  says :  “These  people  I 
understand  are  already  quite  numerous,  and  are  in¬ 
creasing.  Several  of  those  whom  I  heard  evidently 
possess  some  little  talent,  and  are  remarkably  fluent 
in  quoting  Scripture.  They  threaten  us  with  an  alarm¬ 
ing  progress  of  their  heresy.” 

A  further  impetus  to  the  spread  of  Perfectionism 
in  this  region  was  given  in  August  1834  when  The 
Perfectionist  began  to  be  published  at  New  Haven. 
As  an  illustration  of  this  David  A.  Warren  writes 
September  7th : 

“A  copy  of  the  first  number  of  The  Perfectionist 
was  sent  to  the  Oneida  Institute  in  Utica,  at  which 
place  there  is  a  great  anxiety  manifested  with  regard 
to  this  subject.  The  paper,  to  use  the  expression  of 
my  informant,  went  through  the  Institute  like  light¬ 
ning.  They  are  very  anxious  to  see  me  and  hear  me 
preach.” 

Toward  the  end  of  the  summer  of  1834  Charles 
H.  Weld,  whose  father  lived  at  Quality  Hill,  near 
Oneida,  New  York,  spent  several  weeks  in  that  vicin¬ 
ity.  Writing  from  there  September  9,  1834,  he  says: 

“I  have  been  unobtrusively  visiting  several  places 
in  Oneida  and  Madison  Counties,  calling  upon  perfec¬ 
tion  brethren  and  others — ministers  and  leading  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  churches.  The  Lord  has  blessed  me 
exceedingly,  has  prepared  the  way  before  me,  and  has 
enabled  me,  I  believe,  to  benefit  very  much  many  of 
the  brethren,  who  were  ‘seeing  men  as  trees  walking’ 
and  in  consequence  of  intellectual  mistakes  were  almost 


NEW  YORK  PERFECTIONISM 


189 


entirely  closing  the  minds  of  the  church  and  the  world 
against  them;  while  on  the  other  hand  he  has  enabled 
me  to  present  the  truth  to  very  many  who  have  not  as 
yet  embraced  it  practically;  while  he  has,  I  am  per¬ 
suaded,  himself  fastened  it  as  a  nail  in  a  sure  place 
in  many  minds.  There  is  a  wonderful  preparation  for 
sowing  the  seed  extensively  in  this  region.” 

Illustrations  of  the  spirit  and  methods  of  the  New 
York  Perfectionist  leaders  and  the  preparedness  of 
mind  for  their  work  may  be  seen  in  the  following 
extracts  from  the  correspondence  of  the  period : 

C.  E.  Dutton  to  J.  Boyle ,  Dec.  1834:  I  have  been 
west  to  Cortland  County.  All  Babylon  is  in  com¬ 
motion  there.  I  preached  Christ  in  much  contention  at 

times.  The  church  in  G - is  broken  in  fragments. 

All  the  spiritual  part  have  come  into  the  faith  of 
Jesus.  Their  pastor  raves  like  a  devil  in  chains.  Ten 
men  were  excommunicated  from  his  church  while  I 
was  there,  and  he  has  much  more  work  on  hand. 

Our  “new  measure”  ministers  are  more  concerned 
about  keeping  what  they  have  got  than  promoting  revi¬ 
vals  to  get  more.  I  preached  a  few  weeks  since  at 

C - .  The  Lord  has  a  few  chosen  there  and  although 

the  ministers  rage,  yet  the  Lord  wrings  from  the  lay¬ 
men  the  testimony  that  these  things  are  true.  A  dea¬ 
con  of  Dr.  Y - ’s  church  was  at  the  meeting.  He 

had  been  the  man  that  Babylon  had  looked  to  in  the 
time  of  her  distress  to  fight  her  tormentors,  the  Per¬ 
fectionists.  He  was  an  able  man,  and  in  his  frequent 
contests  with  the  heretics  had  learned  to  steer  close  by 
the  wind,  to  avoid  being  raked.  He  would  testify, 
when  pressed,  that  he  was  free  from  condemnation. 


190  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

He  followed  me  home  from  the  meeting,  as  he  after¬ 
wards  said,  to  give  me  battle.  The  Lord  gave  me 
wisdom  and  power,  and  for  the  first  time  he  was 
stripped  naked  and  perfectly  confounded.  He  sat  an 
hour  or  two  with  his  face  in  his  hands,  struggling 
with  pride,  and  then  attempted  to  leave,  it  being  past 
midnight,  but  dared  not.  He  finally  said :  “I  take  the 
Christ  and  suffer  the  consequences.”  He  found  the 
well  of  life.  It  was  a  proud  triumph  of  the  living 
God,  and  Babylon  felt  the  blow  at  her  remotest  bor¬ 
der. 

The  devil  is  making  his  greatest  effort  in  this  quar¬ 
ter,  in  pushing  his  saints  to  testify  to  holiness  under 

the  law.  L - M - stands  at  the  head  of  the  line, 

and  he  and  his  followers  are  doing  the  devil  an  impor¬ 
tant  service.  The  Lord  is  doing  a  great  work  by  the 
paper,  both  in  strengthening  the  saints  and  in  con¬ 
founding  Babylonians. 

David  A.  Warren  at  Verona,  Nezv  York,  to  /.  Boyle, 
March  29,  1835.  [Having  described  his  examination 
by  the  Association  of  ministers  which  had  licensed 
him  to  preach,  Warren  continues]  :  “ After  the  exami¬ 
nation  had  closed,  the  motion  was  made  and  seconded 
to  depose  Brother  Warren.  The  first  delegate  called 
upon,  who  was  reputed  to  be  as  pious  as  any  among 
them,  rose  and  said,  he  should  not  vote ;  he  saw  more 
of  the  spirit  and  temper  of  Christ  in  that  man  than  he 
saw  in  himself;  he  thought  the  Bible  warranted  him 
in  the  ground  he  took,  and  he  was  prepared  to  go 
almost. all  the  way  with  him  himself.  The  next  one 
called  upon  declined  voting  for  the  same  reasons.  The 
Moderator  seeing  this  course  would  not  do  remarked : 


NEW  YORK  PERFECTIONISM 


191 


''‘We  all  believe  Brother  Warren  to  be  a  blessed  man 
and  a  Christian;  and  that  the  error  is  in  his  head  and 
not  in  his  heart.  But  he  has  departed  from  our  faith 
and  we  must  put  our  hands  on  these  errors.”  They 
finally  concluded  to  sustain  the  motion  solely  on  the 
ground  that  I  had  departed  from  their  faith,  and  not 
to  jeopardize  my  Christian  character  in  the  least. 

M.  P.  Sweet  at  Genoa ,  New  York ,  to  J.  Boyle ,  July 
1835  :  I  arrived  in  this  town  yesterday,  and  have  had 
sweet  communion  with  some  of  the  dear  children  of 
God  who  reside  here.  ...  I  am  greatly  rejoiced  at  the 
progress  of  the  work  of  the  Lord.  A  spirit  of  inquiry 
is  abroad  in  the  land.  ...  I  have  been  recently  in 
O wasco  and  the  adjoining  towns  preaching  Christ  a 
savior  from  sin.  Multitudes  attend,  many  hear  and 
assent  to  the  truth,  while  some  few  live  it.  I  attended 
a  meeting  of  the  holy  brethren  in  Owasco.  It  was 
held  in  an  orchard.  An  immense  concourse  of  people 
were  present — one  to  two  thousand  persons  from  fif¬ 
teen  and  twenty  miles  about.  Yet  in  so  great  a  crowd 
there  was  scarcely  an  act  to  interrupt  the  order  of  the 
meeting,  and  an  almost  breathless  attention  was  given 
to  the  word  of  life.  I  am  about  to  leave  here  for 
Newark,  Wayne  County. 

John  Smith  at  Genoa ,  New  York ,  to  J.  Boyle ,  July 
1835:  Your  letter  came  to  my  family  during  my  ab¬ 
sence  on  a  visit  to  the  saints  in  Deruyter,  Delphi,  Caze- 
novia,  Smithfield,  Augusta,  V erona,  Chittenango,  Can- 
astota,  Manlius,  Salina,  etc.  Brothers  Mead  and  Ran¬ 
dall  accompanied  me.  It  was  the  most  delightful  visit  I 
ever  made.  To  see  the  family  likeness  and  the  teach¬ 
ings  of  the  same  blessed  Jesus,  though  under  great 


192  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

variety  of  external  circumstances,  impressed  on  my 
mind  the  truth  that  God  is  bringing  about  a  unity, 
which  old  Babylon  with  all  her  efforts,  treasures, 
human  learning,  eloquence  could  not  even  imitate.  At 
Canastota  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  being  sent  for, 
Brothers  Randall,  Mead,  Hatch  and  myself  held  a 
“preach’’  upon  one  of  the  canal  bridges  to  a  full  con¬ 
gregation.  I  need  not  tell  you  that  God  was  there 
in  ten  thousand  of  his  glorified  saints  to  execute  judg¬ 
ment  upon  the  ungodly.  The  saints  got  the  victory 
through  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  Satan’s  kingdom 
shook.  An  old  Babylonian  priest  got  mad,  and  said 
we  ought  to  be  put  in  jail  every  one  of  us.  He  shook 
his  cane  over  Brother  Randall’s  head,  and  said  he 
would  strike  him,  were  it  not  that  he  was  not  in  a 
habit  of  so  doing. 

When  the  New  York  and  New  Haven  schools  of 
Perfectionists  first  met,  in  the  interview  between 
Latourette  and  Noyes  that  has  been  described,  antag¬ 
onism  flashed  forth  and  it  seemed  as  if  reconciliation 
would  be  impossible.  Nevertheless,  when  the  New 
Haven  leaders  started  The  Perfectionist ,  the  New 
York  brethren  quite  generally  approved  and  gave  their 
support.  Latourette  himself  subscribed  for  ten  copies 
of  the  paper,  and  all  the  prominent  colonies  of  Per¬ 
fectionists  in  New  York  and  Massachusetts  gladly 
received  and  circulated  it.  But  as  the  New  Haven 
Perfectionists  proceeded  in  the  development  of  their 
characteristic  doctrines — the  second  coming,  security, 
freedom  from  law,  aversion  to  asceticism — the  New 
York  Perfectionists  were  again  roused  to  opposition. 


NEW  YORK  PERFECTIONISM 


193 


Reports  came  to  New  Haven  of  the  dissatisfaction  of 
Sheldon,  Foot  and  the  Annesleys  with  the  “carnal 
theorizing”  and  “worldly  wisdom”  of  The  Perfection¬ 
ist .  Presently  Latourette  canceled  his  whole  subscrip¬ 
tion,  and  called  the  paper  “The  Delusionist.”  At 
length  in  a  general  convention  of  the  New  York  Per¬ 
fectionists  held  at  Canastota,  New  York,  January  I, 
1835,  the  doctrines  of  the  New  Haven  school  were 
fiercely  denounced.  Dutton,  who  attended,  returned 
to  New  Haven  with  the  report  that  both  he  and  the 
paper  had  been  “ridden  over  rough-shod.” 

But  not  even  the  denunciations  and  disclaimers  of 
the  Canastota  Convention  were  able  to  break  com¬ 
pletely  the  affiliations  between  the  two  sorts  of  Per¬ 
fectionists.  The  next  step  was  an  attempt  on  the  part 
of  the  New  York  Perfectionists  to  convert  the  New 
Haven  brethren  from  their  obnoxious  ideas.  Simon 
Lovett,  a  prominent  member  of  the  New  York  group, 
came  to  New  Haven  in  January  1835  t°  set  Noyes 
right.  He  immediately  entered  into  a  discussion  of 
the  disputed  points,  but  instead  of  converting  Noyes  to 
his  views,  it  was  not  long  before  he  himself  was  con¬ 
verted  to  the  views  of  Noyes;  and  he  became  forth¬ 
with  a  forward  champion  of  the  very  doctrines  he  had 
come  to  combat. 

After  the  failure  of  the  New  York  Perfectionists’ 
mission  to  Noyes,  Lovett  led  Noyes  back  on  a  mission 
to  the  New  York  Perfectionists.  The  believers  who 
lived  in  Southampton  and  Brimfield,  Massachusetts, 
had  originally  received  the  faith  from  the  Misses 
Annesley  of  Albany,  New  York.  They  had,  however, 
responded  with  more  than  usual  intelligence  and  enthu- 


194 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


siasm  to  the  New  Haven  paper,  and  seemed  to  offer  a 
favorable  point  of  junction  between  the  New  York  and 
New  Haven  schools.  Lovett,  who  had  formerly  been 
their  pastor,  was  well  acquainted  with  them,  and  was 
anxious  that  Noyes  should  preach  his  new  doctrines 
among  them  in  person.  This  mission,  as  will  be  seen 
in  the  next  chapter,  also  proved  abortive ;  and  for  two 
and  a  half  years  thereafter  the  relations  between  New 
York  and  New  Haven  Perfectionists  remained  quies¬ 
cent.  At  the  end  of  that  time  events  occurred  which 
gradually  brought  about  a  lasting  union. 


CHAPTER  XIX 


ANTINOMIANISM 

Freedom  from  sin  according  to  Noyes’s  definition 
had  two  essential  components,  right  intent  and  intelli¬ 
gence.  Since  these  internal  monitors  might  conflict 
with  external  law,  freedom  from  sin  without  freedom 
from  external  law  was  a  contradiction  in  terms. 

'  Hence  Noyes  and  his  followers,  though  brought  up 
in  the  strictest  school  of  New  England  morality, 
declared  themselves  “free  from  law.”  But  here  a 
new  danger  appeared.  In  escaping  from  law  many 
of  the  Perfectionists,  like  the  mediaeval  mystics,  fell 
into  antinomianism.  Antinomianism  is  the  assumption 
of  freedom  from  the  external  law  of  spoken  or  writ¬ 
ten  statutes  while  not  yet  under  the  internal  law  of 
the  heart  and  mind.  It  takes  different  forms  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  temperamental  susceptibilities  of  its  subjects. 
In  those  inclined  to  sensuality  it  takes  the  form  of 
lasciviousness;  in  those  whose  leading  trait  is  self¬ 
esteem  the  form  of  anti -organization ;  in  those  of  an 
indolent  disposition  the  form  of  passivism.  During  the 
prevalence  of  the  antinomian  aberration  in  1835-6 
it  seemed  as  though  the  cause  of  salvation  from  sin 
would  be  completely  given  over  to  anarchy  and  imbe¬ 
cility.  But  the  Perfectionists,  unlike  the  mediaeval 

195 


196  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

mystics,  did  not  abandon  the  principle  of  freedom 
from  law.  “The  Reformers/’  said  Noyes,  “swam  out 
a  little  way  into  the  stream  of  spiritual  experience, 
and  finding  it  full  of  serpents  and  crocodiles  swam 
back  as  fast  as  they  could.  I  swam  out  and  encoun¬ 
tered  these  monsters,  but  I  killed  them  with  my  bowjie- 
knife  and  came  out  on  the  other  side.”  The  Perfec¬ 
tionists  were  brought  gradually  to  the  conviction  that 
even  the  spiritually-minded  in  the  present  stage  of 
human  development  needed  to  be  restrained  by  moral 
forces  which,  though  consistent  with  personal  freedom, 
were  nevertheless  in  effect  equivalent  to  law.  Such 
forces  they  found  in  voluntary  subjection  to  leader¬ 
ship  and  to  mutual  instruction.  Thus  they  held  on 
their  course  and,  as  we  shall  see  in  Chapter  XXXVII, 
were  ultimately  able  to  run  the  line  between  salvation 
from  sin  and  legality  on  the  one  side,  salvation  from 
sin  and  antinomianism  on  the  other. 

Lasciviousness 

Noyes  in  his  narrative  of  religious  experience  con¬ 
tinues  : 

About  the  first  of  February  1835  Lovett  and  I  set 
our  faces  toward  Massachusetts.  At  Southampton  I 
was  well  received.  All  hearts  were  open.  The  drift 
of  my  operations  was  to  clear  the  field  of  legality, 
and  introduce  the  doctrines  of  security  and  the  second 
coming.  The  Annesleys  had  connected  with  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  holiness  that  sort  of  Methodist  legality,  of 
which  Latourette  set  the  pattern.  Praying  and  “pump¬ 
ing”  for  spiritual  life  was  the  order  of  the  day.  The 
following  anecdote  may  serve  as  an  illustration  of  the 


ANTINOMIANISM 


197 


course  I  pursued :  At  a  social  meeting  in  a  private 
house  it  was  proposed  that  we  should  “pray  all  round.” 
Accordingly  all  knelt  before  their  chairs,  and  entered 
upon  a  series  of  good  old  “new  measure”  petitions. 
My  place  was  near  the  end  of  the  series.  When  my  turn 
came  to  pray,  my  words  were  as  follows :  “O  Lord, 
we  thank  thee  that  thou  hast  given  us  all  that  we  need, 
and  we  don’t  want  anything  more.  Amen.”  There¬ 
upon  the  whole  circle  burst  into  a  laugh,  and  arose 
from  their  knees.  That  was  the  end  of  formal  pray¬ 
ing  among  Perfectionists  at  Southampton. 

After  a  week  or  two  Lovett  and  I  went  to  BrimfiekL 
I  found  the  Perfectionists  there  prejudiced  against 
important  teachings  of  the  New  Haven  school,  and  I 
preached  what  I  believed  among  them  with  much  zeal 
and  some  contention.  Their  leader,  Tertius  Strong, 
succumbed  to  my  reasonings,  and  soon  the  doctrines 
of  the  second  coming  and  what  we  called  the  “eternal 
promise”  were  received  on  all  sides  with  great  enthu¬ 
siasm.  I  left  them  in  the  midst  of  this  enthusiasm, 
and  went  on  my  way  to  Vermont.  Lovett  remained 
at  Brimfield,  and  from  him  and  others  I  afterward 
learned  the  following  facts : 

Two  days  after  I  left,  C.  E.  Dutton  arrived  from 
Albany.  The  excitement  increased.  Finally  it 
assumed  a  social  and  fanatical  form.  Mary  Lincoln 
and  Maria  Brown,  the  leaders  among  the  girls,  made 
their  way  at  midnight  to  Simon  Lovett’s  room.  The 
purpose  of  this  visit,  so  far  as  understood,  was  by  no 
means  carnal.  On  the  contrary  it  was  intended  as  a 
crowning  demonstration  of  the  spirit  triumphing  over 
the  flesh ;  but,  as  usually  happens  in  such  presumpt- 


198 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


uous  experiments,  in  the  end  the  flesh  triumphed  over 
the  spirit.  The  scandal  was  overwhelming.  Under 
its  pitiless  blast  Mary  Lincoln  imagined  that  God  was 
about  to  destroy  Brimfield  with  fire  from  heaven,  and 
she  warned  all  true-hearted  believers  to  flee  with  her 
to  the  mountains.  Some  tried  to  hold  her  back,  but 
one  young  woman,  Flavilla  Howard  by  name,  decided 
to  accompany  her.  They  set  forth  at  nightfall,  and 
tramped  through  mud  and  rain  to  the  top  of  a  neigh¬ 
boring  mountain,  throwing  off  their  clothing  as  they 
ran.  There  they  prayed  that  the  avenging  bolts  might 
be  stayed;  and  as  a  result  of  their  intercession,  they 
afterward  said,  the  city  was  saved. 

1  was  so  near  being  actually  present  at  this  affair, 
and  so  liable  to  be  thought  responsible  for  it  and  impli¬ 
cated  in  it,  that  I  must  now  tell  more  particularly  how 
and  why  I  left  Brimfield.  From  my  first  contact  with 
the  Massachusetts  clique  of  Perfectionists  at  South¬ 
ampton  I  had  been  aware  of  a  seducing  tendency 
to  freedom  of  manners  between  the  sexes.  The  expres¬ 
sions  “brother,”  “sister,”  “beloved,”  “dearly  beloved” 
were  in  common  use.  One  young  woman  kissed 
Simon  Lovett  the  first  time  she  ever  saw  him.  At 
Brimfield  there  was  a  group  of  handsome,  brilliant 
young  women,  and  manners  were  equally  free.  By 
my  position  as  preacher  of  the  doctrines  which  had 
taken  all  by  storm  I  was  the  object  of  attentions, 
which  were  seemingly  innocent  but  which  I  soon 
began  to  suspect  as  dangerous.  Finally  one  evening 
at  a  social  gathering  around  William  Tarbell’s  fire 
his  daughter,  Hannah,  in  the  midst  of  the  general  cheer¬ 
fulness  seemed  downcast.  I  asked  her  what  made  her 


ANTINOMIANISM 


199 


sad.  She  replied  that  she  imagined  I  had  no  confi¬ 
dence  in  her.  Thereupon  I  took  a  seat  beside  her  and 
put  my  arm  around  her.  As  we  separated  she  kissed 
me  in  token  of  recovery  from  her  distrust.  That  night, 
while  on  my  bed  in  prayer,  I  got  a  clear  view  of  the 
situation,  and  I  received  what  I  believed  to  be  “orders” 
to  withdraw.  I  left  the  next  morning  alone,  without 
making  known  my  intention  to  any  one,  and  took  a 
bee-line  on  foot  through  snow  and  cold — below  zero 
— to  Putney,  sixty  miles  distant,  which  I  reached 
within  twenty-four  hours. 

I  confess  that  I  sympathized  to  some  extent  with 
the  spirit  of  the  first  letters  that  came  to  me  about  this 
affair,  and  sought  to  shelter  rather  than  to  condemn 
the  young  women  who  appealed  to  me  against  the  storm 
of  scandal  which  they  had  brought  upon  themselves. 
But  in  the  sequel,  as  the  irregularities  continued  and 
passed  on  into  actual  licentiousness  and  finally  into 
propagandism,  I  renounced  all  sympathy  with  them, 
and  did  my  best  in  subsequent  years  to  stamp  them 
out  by  word  and  deed. 

The  “bundling”  at  Brimfield  began  during  the  first 
week  of  March  1835.  Ten  days  later  Dutton  and 
Lovett  left  for  Southampton,  where  they  lodged  with 
Dr.  Gridley,  a  leading  man  among  the  Perfectionists 
there.  Shortly  afterward  they  were  joined  by  Mary 
Lincoln.  One  of  the  first  to  advance  into  the  new 
freedom  was  the  wife  of  Dr.  Gridley.  The  Doctor, 
we  are  told,  remained  “waiting  on  the  Lord  without 
opposing,”  though  as  yet  unconvinced. 

During  this  visit  Mary  Lincoln  decided  that  Dutton 


200  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

was  her  special  affinity.  She  talked  openly  about  being 
his,  as  though  he  had  no  voice  in  the  matter.  Dutton 
felt  that  possibly  God  had  chosen  for  him.  So  they 
were  married. 

From  Southampton  Dutton  went  into  New  York 
State,  while  Lovett  made  a  circuit  of  towns  in  Massa¬ 
chusetts.  On  his  return  to  Southampton  Lovett  was 
joined  by  Maria  Brown  and  Hannah  Tarbell  of  Brim- 
field.  Mrs.  Gridley’s  brother,  a  young  man  by  the 
name  of  Searl,  now  came  into  the  “gospel  liberty,”  as 
they  called  it.  Dr.  Gridley,  too,  having  put  aside  all 
scruples,  boldly  espoused  the  movement,  and  for  a 
number  of  years  his  house  was  the  scene  of  scandalous 
practices,  in  which  he  took  a  leading  part. 

Not  long  after  this  Dr.  Gridley  and  Mr.  Searl  set 
out  to  visit  Brimfield.  While  on  the  road  they  were 
assailed  by  a  mob  of  young  men  on  horseback,  among 
whom  was  a  brother  of  Mary  Lincoln.  They  were 
beaten  with  clubs,  and  Mr.  Searl  had  holes  cut  through 
his  overcoat  and  coat.  With  violent  threats  the  men 
rode  away. 

The  social  excitement,  which  had  started  at  Brim- 
field,  was  communicated  next  to  New  Haven.  Lovett 
and  Dutton  mingled  with  the  Perfectionists  there,  and 
a  run  of  spiritual  mating  followed.  Lovett  himself 
claimed  Abby  Fowler  of  New  Haven  as  his  spiritual 
mate,  and  married  her.  After  her  death  he  married 
Abby  Brown  of  Brimfield  under  a  similar  claim. 

Meanwhile  the  gospel  of  irresponsible  freedom  was 
being  communicated  by  letters  to  Perfectionists  in 
more  distant  parts.  Tertius  Strong  of  Brimfield  cor¬ 
responded  with  Jesse  and  Rhoda  Mudgett  of  Cam- 


ANTINOMIANISM 


201 


bridge,  Vermont.  Letters  giving  a  detailed  account 
of  the  Brimfield  proceedings  were  sent  to  Jonathan 
Burt  and  other  Perfectionists  in  the  State  of  New 
York.  The  effect  of  these  revelations  upon  New  York 
Perfectionists  was  greatly  increased  by  a  vision  which 
Erasmus  Stone  of  Salina  was  reported  to  have  seen. 
He  saw  in  his  dream  men  and  women  flying  in  all 
directions  and  crossing  each  other’s  track,  each  appar¬ 
ently  in  earnest  search.  His  interpretation  was,  that 
in  the  present  state  husbands  and  wives  were  wrongly 
paired,  and  that  in  the  coming  dispensation  they  would 
be  separated  and  would  find  their  true  affinities. 

At  Delphi  in  Central  New  York  Lucina  Umphreville, 
a  fascinating  young  Perfectionist,  had  been  teaching 
that  carnal  union  was  not  to  be  tolerated  even  in  mar¬ 
riage,  while  spiritual  union  whether  in  or  out  of  the 
marriage  relation  represented  a  high  state  of  attain¬ 
ment.  Consequently  the  news  from  Brimfield  and  the 
report  of  Erasmus  Stone’s  vision  found  the  Perfec¬ 
tionists  at  Delphi  ready  for  a  Platonic  modification  of 
the  spiritual  wife  theory.  Lucina  herself  was  joined 
in  spiritual  union  with  Jarvis  Rider,  a  Perfectionist 
preacher,  and  in  the  spring  of  1836  at  a  Perfectionist 
convention  held  at  Canaseraga  they  came  out  boldly 
in  advocacy  of  these  principles.  Not  long  after  this 
Maria  Brown  of  Brimfield  visited  the  Perfectionists 
of  Central  New  York,  and  soon  the  Platonic  friendships 
became  Antonian.  Jonathan  Burt  tells  the  story  thus: 

“Rider  had  made  a  large  number  of  converts,  among 
them  Thomas  Chapman  and  wife.  Chapman  and  I 
were  engaged  during  the  summer  digging  the  Che¬ 
nango  Canal.  During  Chapman’s  absence  not  only 


202 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


Rider  had  lived  at  his  house  but  also  Lucina  Umphre- 
ville,  Charles  Lovett  and  Maria  Brown.  Rider  and 
Mrs.  Chapman  on  the  one  hand,  and  Lovett  and 
Lucina  Umphreville  on  the  other,  became  spiritually 
united  and,  as  it  afterward  appeared  by  their  own  con¬ 
fession,  entered  into  a  carnal  intimacy  as  well.  The 
result  was  that  Chapman  on  his  return  beat  Rider  with 
a  horse-whip  and  kicked  him  out  of  his  house.  In 
the  midst  of  this  operation  Chapman  was  taken  blind. 
In  consequence  he  desisted  from  his  blows,  and  called 
Rider  back  into  the  house.  I  was  present  at  this 
catastrophe.  The  termination  of  the  affair  was  an 
entire  alienation  of  Chapman  from  his  wife  and  from 
Rider;  and  she,  being  of  a  delicate  constitution,  sank 
under  the  troubles  that  came  upon  her,  and  died  soon 
after.” 


Anti-Organisation 

In  his  article  on  the  “new  covenant,”  from  which 
we  have  already  quoted,  Noyes  wrote : 

“They  shall  not  teach  every  man  his  neighbor,  and 
every  man  his  brother,  saying,  Know  the  Lord :  for  all 
shall  know  me,  from  the  least  to  the  greatest.”  The 
difference  between  the  old  and  new  covenants  in 
this  respect  is,  that  outward  is  exchanged  for  inward 
operation.  Under  the  Jewish  dispensation  Moses  was 
the  principal  mediator  between  God  and  man.  He  and 
a  few  others  in  succeeding  ages  were  permitted  to  draw 
nigh  to  God  and  receive  from  him  instruction  and 
commandments.  But  the  mass  of  the  people  could  not 
be  said  to  know  the  Lord.  Moses,  groaning  under 
the  burden  of  his  office,  longed  for  a  system  of  uni- 


AN  TIN  OMI ANISM 


203 


versal  personal  instruction  from  the  Lord.  “Would 
God,”  said  he,  “that  all  the  Lord’s  people  were  proph¬ 
ets,  and  that  the  Lord  would  put  his  spirit  upon  them.” 
The  new  covenant  gives  the  blessing  he  desired.  There 
is  now  but  “one  mediator  between  God  and  man,  even 
Jesus  Christ”;  and  he  not  a  mediator  in  such  a  sense 
as  implies  a  separation  between  the  parties,  but  one 
in  whom  the  parties  meet  and  are  one.  So  that  all 
the  Lord’s  people  are  prophets;  all  know  the  Lord. 
“Ye  have  an  unction  from  the  Holy  One,  and  ye  know 
all  things.  Ye  need  not  that  any  man  teach  you.” 

This  idea,  that  the  Christian  stood  in  a  direct  spirit¬ 
ual  relation  with  God  and  needed  no  human  leader  or 
teacher,  was  exceedingly  attractive  to  many  of  the 
early  Perfectionists,  and  circumstances  soon  transpired 
which  brought  it  into  even  greater  prominence  than 
was  originally  contemplated. 

Theophilus  R.  Gates,  the  publisher  of  a  paper  in 
Philadelphia  called  The  Reformer  and  Christian ,  was 
first  introduced  to  the  New  Haven  Perfectionists  by 
John  B.  Foot  and  Chauncey  Dutton,  who  believed  that 
some  of  his  writings  foreshadowed  the  rise  of  Perfec¬ 
tionism.  Anti-organization  had  for  more  than  twenty 
years  been  Gates’s  hobby.  “Sects  and  parties,”  he 
wrote  in  1812,  “have  been  the  ruin  of  all  genuine 
religion  in  the  world.  .  .  .  But,  says  one,  what  would 
become  of  people,  if  they  were  not  under  the  restraint 
of  some  religious  community?  To  this  I  answer,  I 
have  myself  been  several  years  without  restraint  from 
any  society,  and  under  the  discipline  of  no  one.  I 
have  not  lacked  anything;  nor  do  I  now  feel  any  dis- 


204  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

position  to  turn  away  from  the  Lord’s  service.  And 
hear  this,  all  ye  ends  of  the  earth:  The  true  love  of 
God  in  the  heart  is  the  best  restraint ,  and  a  tender  con¬ 
science  the  best  discipline.  This  is  the  restraint,  and 
this  is  the  discipline  which  all  the  Lord’s  children  are 
under;  and  none  other  is  wanting.” 

In  the  fall  of  1834  there  had  been  several  compli¬ 
mentary  exchanges  of  view  between  Gates  and  the 
Perfectionists.  After  Noyes’s  departure  from  New 
Haven  at  the  end  of  January  1835  the  relation  became 
rapidly  more  intimate.  Gates’s  leading  idea,  anti- 
organization,  fell  in  with  the  prepossessions  of  Boyle 
and  Weld,  both  of  whom  at  the  commencement  of  The 
Perfectionist  had  expressed  themselves  as  strongly 
opposed  to  “sects,  parties,  and  church  organization” ; 
and  when  Gates  professed  a  deep  interest  in  the  Per¬ 
fectionist  doctrines,  they  heartily  welcomed  him  as  a 
brother  in  the  faith. 

The  February  number  of  The  Perfectionist ,  the 
first  that  was  published  after  Noyes’s  departure,  con¬ 
tained  an  advertisement  and  commendation  of  Gates’s 
paper  by  Boyle.  The  same  number  contained  the  first 
installment  of  a  serial  by  Gates,  which  Boyle  intro¬ 
duced  with  this  editorial  remark : 

“On  the  last  page  will  be  found  a  pretty  long  extract 
taken  from  a  work  published  by  our  much  esteemed 
friend  Gates  twenty  years  ago,  which  he  had  the  kind¬ 
ness  to  send  us  according  to  our  request.  We  have 
seldom  read  a  book  with  more  interest  than  this,  and 
we  think  that  our  readers  will  be  equally  interested  and 
profited  in  reading  this  extract,  and  those  which  we 
expect  hereafter  to  publish.” 


ANTINOMIANISM 


205’ 


From  this  time  Gates’s  writings  occupied  the  post 
of  honor  in  The  Perfectionist ,  and  when  in  April  1835 
Weld  returned  from  a  personal  visit  to  Philadelphia 
with  the  word,  “Brother  Gates  I  find  pure  gold,’’  it 
was  natural  that  Perfectionists  generally  should  look 
upon  him  as  a  fully  accredited  leader  of  the  cause. 

The  interposition  of  any  human  element  whatso¬ 
ever  between  man  and  God  was  in  Gates’s  view  the 
primal  sin.  In  The  Perfectionist  for  February  20, 
1835,  he  wrote: 

“God  never  made  one  of  the  sects  now  existing. 
They  have  been  devised,  made  and  fashioned  wholly 
by  men.  ...  It  is  only  a  proper  designation,  there¬ 
fore,  to  call  the  present  existing  sects  in  Christendom 
the  false  gods  of  this  day,  for,  though  formed  by  men, 
they  receive  that  attention,  homage  and  esteem,  which 
of  right  belong  only  unto  God,  and  exercise  an  author¬ 
ity  and  a  power  solely  the  prerogative  of  God.” 

With  this  introduction  the  gathering  chorus  of  pro¬ 
test  against  human  teaching  and  human  authority  may 
be  heard  in  the  following  typical  extracts : 

Article  by  Boyle  in  “ The  Perfectionist”  February 
20,  1835 :  We  believe  all  sectarianism  to  be  the  work 
of  carnal  men,  and  that  all  who  exert  the  least  influ¬ 
ence  to  uphold  it  or  any  of  the  existing  sects  are 
opposed  to  the  kingdom  and  glory  of  Christ.  .  .  . 
We  believe  that  no  man  or  body  of  men  have  any 
authority  to  form  churches,  to  license  or  ordain  minis¬ 
ters,  to  send  out  missionaries,  or  to  enact  any  rules 
for  the  government  of  the  saints.  These  are  the  pre¬ 
rogatives  of  the  only  Lord  God ;  and  man  bv  assum¬ 
ing  them  has  exalted  himself  above  God. 


206  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

Dutton  to  Boyle ,  April  i,  1835 :  Where  is  he  who 
calls  himself  an  apostle ,  a  leader ,  a  teacher  in  the  king¬ 
dom  ?  Let  him  learn  what  I  have  learned  through  the 
rich  grace  of  God,  that  he  is  a  fool,  and  knoweth  noth¬ 
ing;  that  he  has  need  to  learn  what  be  the  first  princi¬ 
ples  of  the  kingdom  of  our  Father.  Here  we  are 
the  followers  of  the  Lamb,  and  are  all  taught  of 
God.  Here  we  are  receivers,  and  not  givers — the 
bride,  whom  the  Lamb  alone  is  fully  competent  to 
educate. 

Editorial  by  Boyle  in  “The  Perfectionist ”  May  20, 
1 835 :  We  can  assure  our  readers  that  we  entertain 
no  predilection  for  the  name  “Perfectionist.”  At  first 
we  were  greatly  opposed  to  the  adoption  of  this  name, 
lest  by  so  doing  we  should  convey  to  others  the  false 
impression  that  we  were,  or  were  about  to  become  an 
organized  sect,  which  we  know  will  never  be.  Perfec¬ 
tionists,  so-called,  stand  as  independent  of  each  other 
as  they  do  of  any  of  the  antichristian  churches.  They 
will  not  be  taught  of  each  other,  as  they  are  “all  taught 
of  God”;  nor  will  they  acknowledge  any  man  as  a 
leader,  or  teacher,  or  chief,  or  anything  of  the  kind; 
they  remember  the  words  of  Plim  who  said,  “One  is 
your  Master,  even  Christ:  and  all  ye  are  brethren.” 
Perfectionists  differ  among  themselves  on  almost  all 
points,  except  the  great  distinguishing  one,  viz.,  per¬ 
fection  in  holiness  through  the  blood  of  the  everlasting 
covenant.  If  agreement  in  a  single  point,  with  the  fel¬ 
lowship  of  spirit  in  God,  without  any  outward  organi¬ 
zation,  any  formal  creed,  any  places  or  forms  of  exter¬ 
nal  worship,  any  leaders,  external  rules,  or  combina¬ 
tion  of  any  kind  can  render  us  deserving  of  the  hateful 


ANTINOMIANISM 


207 


name  of  sect ,  then  are  we  a  sect;  but  if  these  two  things 
do  not  make  us  a  sectarian  party,  then  are  we  inno¬ 
cent  of  the  charge  of  sectarianism.  We  doubt  not, 
indeed  we  are  certain,  that  all  sects  and  sectarian  names 
will  ere  long  be  utterly  destroyed :  and  with  the  rest 
of  the  inventions,  caricatures,  and  rubbish  of  Satan  the 
name  “Perfectionist”  will  be  cast  out  and  forgotten ; 
to  which  all  the  saints  of  God  will  respond  a  long  and 
loud  Amen. 

Dutton  to  Noyes ,  April  4,  1835 :  I  have  done 
receiving  anything  from  the  Bible,  or  from  the  hand 
of  man.  Nothing  abides  when  the  storm  comes  but 
what  the  Lord  has  taught. 

After  the  opposition  to  human  teaching  had  run  to 
a  certain  length,  the  example  of  the  apostle  Paul  began 
to  be  felt  as  an  obstacle.  Since  his  epistles  abounded 
in  exhortations,  reproofs  and  instructions  addressed 
to  the  churches  under  his  care,  it  was  a  natural  infer¬ 
ence  that  he  found  a  place  in  the  church  for  human 
leadership  in  addition  to  the  direct  instructions  of  the 
Lord.  This  obstacle,  however,  was  easily  removed. 
Paul  himself  was  a  uman  teacher,  and  his  authority 
could  properly  be  impeached  by  one  who  was  “taught 
of  God.”  Accordingly  signs  of  restiveness  against 
Paul  are  seen  in  Boyle  as  early  as  May  1835.  Two 
months  later  Gates  pushed  on  into  definite  and  unquali¬ 
fied  accusations.  In  October  1835  Boyle  renewed  the 
attack  with  increased  vehemence.  Finally  in  The 
Perfectionist  for  November  1835  Gates  delivered  a 
veritable  home-thrust,  including  in  his  indictment  not 
only  Paul  but  the  other  apostles. 


208  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

Passivism 

If  God  had  no  need  of  human  teachers  for  the 
instruction  and  guidance  of  his  church,  it  was  easy 
to  believe  that  he  had  no  need  of  human  instrumen¬ 
tality  in  any  capacity  whatsoever.  He  could  accom¬ 
plish  his  ends  by  direct  spiritual  action,  and  man  had 
only  to  sit  passively  by  and  “see  the  salvation  of  the 
Lord.”  The  operation  of  this  feeling  among  the  early 
Perfectionists  can  be  observed  in  the  following 
extracts : 

Article  by  Boyle  in  ((The  Perfectionist ”  October 
20,  1834:  Those  who  have  committed  soul,  body  and 
spirit,  including  of  course  their  separate  moral  agency, 
to  the  perfect  and  eternal  keeping  of  Christ  have  laid 
all  the  responsibility  of  their  life  and  conduct  upon 
his  arm  alone ,  and  Christ  in  accepting  the  trust  and 
in  giving  the  pledge  assumes  the  whole  responsibility. 
If  afterwards  Satan  regains  the  man  or  any  part  of 
him,  Christ’s  character  is  ruined,  and  all  confidence 
in  him  must  cease  forever. 

Article  by  Noyes  in  ((The  Perfectionist ”  April  20, 
1835:  It  is  no  part  of  the  business  of  him  who 
preaches  this  gospel  to  give  directions  for  the  conduct 
of  believers  after  they  believe.  The  faith  of  Jewish 
believers  stimulated  them  to  legal  obedience.  The 
faith  of  the  gospel  requires  men  to  cease  from  their 
own  works,  to  enter  into  rest.  If  I  promise  a  man  a 
reward  at  the  end  of  a  journey  which  I  prescribe,  faith 
in  me  will  prompt  him  to  the  effort  necessary  to  per¬ 
form  the  journey.  But  if  I  promise  him  the  same 
reward,  and  withal  offer  to  carry  him  through  the 
journey  on  the  single  condition  of  his  committing  him- 


ANTINOMIANISM 


209 


self  to  my  care,  faith  in  me  will  forbid  the  effort  which 
before  it  required.  His  responsibility  touches  only 
the  single  act  of  committing  himself  to  my  care.  So 
in  respect  to  salvation  from  sin:  man’s  responsibility 
touches  but  a  single  act,  the  act  of  faith  which  has 
been  described.* 

Edwin  A.  Stillman  to  Noyes ,  May  i,  1835  : 

There  prevails  a  very  general  desire  to  attend  our 
meetings,  but  we  seldom  hold  any.  The  Lord  is  bet¬ 
ter  to  us  than  we  are  to  ourselves.  He  does  not  intend 
that  any  of  us  shall  stand  in  the  wisdom  of  men. 

Article  by  Boyle  in  “ The  Perfectionist ”  May  20, 
1  ^35  :  Why  the  missionaries  to  the  heathen  are  not 
more  successful: 

1.  Because  they  are  the  missionaries  of  jealous, 
ambitious,  malevolent,  and  rival  sects. 

2.  Because  they  go  out  depending  upon  such  cor¬ 
ruptible  things  as  silver  and  gold,  and  not  upon  the 
simple  promise  of  Him  who  can  not  lie. 

3.  Because  they  depend  upon  presses,  schools, 
kings,  queens,  chiefs,  human  laws,  public  opinion — 
upon  a  mass  of  human  machinery  and  carnal  man¬ 
agement,  and  not  upon  the  bare  arm  of  the  living  God. 

These  passivistic  teachings  at  length  converged  upon 
the  object  of  discontinuing  the  paper.  On  April  10, 
1835,  Stillman  wrote  to  Noyes  as  follows : 

“A  letter  has  just  been  received  from  Marion,  New 
York,  the  scene  of  Boyle’s  former  labors,  bringing 
very  cheering  news  of  the  contagion  of  truth  by  means 


*  When  Noyes  republished  this  article  in  The  Berean  in  1847,  he 
omitted  the  paragraph  quoted  above. — G.  W.  N. 


210  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

of  the  paper,  and  containing  an  urgent  request  for 
preachers  of  holiness.  I  am  fully  persuaded  there  is 
far  too  much  leaning  on  the  paper,  as  well  as  on  one 
another.  'Cursed  is  he  that  maketh  the  arm  of  flesh 
his  trust.’  It  seems  to  me  that  the  paper  does  not 
point  distinctly  enough  to  Jesus.  John  the  Baptist 
was  doing  the  will  of  God  as  long  as  he  continued  to 
say,  'Behold  the  Lamb  of  God ,  who  taketh  away  the 
sin  of  the  world.’  Whenever  the  paper  becomes  a 
standard  to  be  appealed  to  as  authority,  that  moment 
it  exalts  itself  against  the  Lord.  The  Lord  in  mercy 
to  us  grant  that  there  may  never  be  any  man-made 
Perfectionists!  The  world  has  been  cursed  long 
enough  by  the  religious  offspring  of  human  labor. 
Let  us  not  add  another  to  the  list  of  abortions. 

“Brother  Weld  has  with  him  several  letters  from 
Mrs.  Carrington.  She  seems  to  have  been  richly 
taught  of  God.  .  .  .  She  utterly  repudiates  the  idea  of 
publishing  the  paper,  and  of  'preaching  saints.’  ” 

By  this  time  Boyle  himself,  though  he  had  originally 
regarded  the  paper  as  a  legitimate  and  necessary  enter¬ 
prise,  had  come  to  feel  that  it  was  a  “piece  of  carnal 
management” — an  “arm  of  flesh” — superfluous  as  a 
means  of  instruction,  since  believers  were  “all  taught 
of  God” — unnecessary  as  a  means  of  spreading  the 
gospel,  since  God  could  make  use  of  miracle  and  mys¬ 
tic  influence  to  compel  belief.  Accordingly,  after  a 
hint  in  the  December  number  that  discontinuance 
might  become  necessary,  the  paper  dragged  along 
through  three  more  numbers,  and  then  in  March  1836 
without  any  formal  notice  to  the  subscribers  was 
dropped. 


CHAPTER  XX 


PREACHING  CAMPAIGN  AT  PUTNEY 

Noyes  arrived  in  Putney  from  Brimfield  at  the  end 
of  February  1835,  and  remained  at  home  about  three 
months.  The  Noyes  household  at  this  time  is  thus 
described  by  Tirzah  C.  Miller,  daughter  of  Noyes’s 
sister  Charlotte  : 

“In  a  large,  handsome,  old-fashioned  house,  sit¬ 
uated  upon  a  graceful  eminence  overlooking  the  little 
village  of  Putney  on  the  south,  dwells  ’Squire  Noyes 
with  his  wife  and  children.  A  rare  group  of  locust 
trees  of  uncommon  size  and  height  gives  to  the  place 
the  name  of  ‘Locust  Grove.’  The  blue  Connecticut 
runs  through  the  valley  a  mile  below,  and  the  scenery 
far  and  near  is  characterized  by  the  usual  variety 
peculiar  to  the  New  England  landscape. 

“  ’Squire  Noyes,  a  portly  man  of  seventy,  is  still  able 
to  keep  his  accounts  and  look  after  the  interests  of  his 
farm.  Of  a  reticent  nature  and  studious  habits,  never 
alluding  in  any  familiar  way  to  the  thoughts  and  feel¬ 
ings  connected  with  his  affections,  never  going  abroad 
except  as  business  requires  him  to  do  so,  and  never 
allowing  his  children  to  inveigle  him  into  wearing 
fashionably-cut  clothes,  he  is  nevertheless  of  a  hos¬ 
pitable  disposition,  his  well-stored  mind  and  ready 
tongue  enabling  him  to  entertain  by  the  hour  the 

211 


212  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

guests  who  gather  at  his  table.  He  has  always  been  a 
great  reader  of  books  and  newspapers,  and  being  accu¬ 
rate  and  methodical  and  possessed  of  a  powerful  mem¬ 
ory,  he  has  one  of  those  minds  in  which  every  newly- 
found  fact,  thought,  or  anecdote  is  carefully  pigeon¬ 
holed  and  labeled,  ready  for  use  at  a  moment’s  notice. 

“Mrs.  Noyes,  a  tall,  straight  lady  of  about  fifty- 
four,  somewhat  eccentric  and  independent  in  her  ways, 
is  considerably  broken  in  health,  so  that  she  no  longer 
takes  much  practical  responsibility  about  household 
matters,  but  derives  great  enjoyment  from  the  society 
of  children  and  young  people,  and  is  never  so  happy 
as  when  guiding  their  modes  of  thought  on  moral  and 
religious  subjects.  Generous  and  high-toned,  fond 
of  reading  and  conversation,  she  possesses  in  a  great 
degree  the  faculty  of  drawing  out  others,  and  making 
them  think  well  of  themselves.  She  has  also  the  rare 
trait  so  pleasing  to  children  of  never  being  too  busy 
to  answer  all  their  eager  questions  and  attend  to  their 
numerous  demands  for  amusement. 

“Mary,  Elizabeth  and  Joanna,  the  three  oldest 
daughters,  are  married  and  gone,  though  Joanna,  who 
has  not  yet  sailed  for  the  West  Indies,  spends  a  part 
of  her  time  at  her  father’s.  John  has  not  yet  settled 
at  home.  Horatio  is  in  college  at  New  Haven.  Har¬ 
riet,  Charlotte  and  George,  respectively  eighteen,  six¬ 
teen  and  twelve  years  of  age,  are  all  of  the  eight  chil¬ 
dren  who  live  continuously  beneath  the  paternal  roof. 

“In  the  kitchen  is  Lovisa  Darby,  a  most  singular¬ 
looking  English  woman  of  about  fifty.  Her  airs  and 
oddities  are  a  continual  source  of  amusement  to  Har¬ 
riet  and  Charlotte,  who  ‘take  her  off’  when  occasion 


LOCUST  GROVE 


PREACHING  CAMPAIGN  AT  PUTNEY  213 


offers  for  the  entertainment  of  their  friends.  Morgan 
Hutchins,  another  oddity,  is  the  factotum  about  the 
house. 

“The  family  are  not  much  given  to  style  either  in 
dress  or  furniture.  They  do  not  make  half  as  much 
show  as  many  who  have  less  means ;  but  they  are  insa¬ 
tiable  readers.  Books  bearing  the  marks  of  use  are 
in  every  room.  The  New  York  American ,  The  Evan¬ 
gelist ,  The  North  American  Review  and  a  number  of 
local  papers  are  lying  about.  Visitors  are  impressed 
by  the  intellectual  atmosphere  which  pervades  the 
place.” 

On  his  arrival  at  Putney  Noyes  found  that  the  atti¬ 
tude  of  the  people  toward  him  had  undergone  a  com¬ 
plete  change  since  his  visit  the  year  before.  The  Per¬ 
fectionist  had  been  extensively  read,  and  there  was  an 
earnest  desire  to  learn  more  of  its  doctrines.  Accord¬ 
ingly  during  the  months  of  March  and  April  1835 
Noyes  preached  almost  daily  at  Putney  and  in  the 
neighboring  villages.  His  operations  here,  he  says, 
were  for  the  first  time  entirely  independent  of  Boyle 
and  the  New  York  Perfectionists,  and  the  results, 
though  less  showy  than  before,  were  more  lasting  and 
satisfactory. 

Noyes  to  Boyle ,  March  15,  1835 

Dear  Brother  Boyle: — I  perceive  by  the  almanac 
that  many  days  have  passed  away  since  I  saw  your 
face.  My  own  memory  seems  to  have  recorded  but 
half  their  number.  I  thank  God  I  am  no  longer  in  a 
condition  to  bemoan  the  strides  of  time;  else  I  should 


214  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

doubtless  here  give  you  a  sad  saying  or  two  in  the 
prosing  preacher’s  strain  about  the  “shortness  of  life” 
and  the  “fleetness  of  time.”  But  I  am  no  longer 
cooped  up  “between  the  cradle  and  the  grave”  in  that 
“narrow,  narrow  way,”  which  is  accounted  by  many 
the  only  right  way  under  the  sun  for  the  children  of 
men.  I  am  a  son  of  God,  an  inhabitant  of  eternity, 
and  “why,  as  though  living  in  the  world,”  should  I 
heed  the  flight  of  time  ?  Let  the  sun  double  his  speed, 
let  time  outrun  himself — immortality  asks  no  favors, 
mourns  no  loss. 

The  Lord  is  opening  before  me  a  wide  door  for  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  is  giving  me  power  that 
prevails  against  all  adversaries.  The  day  of  Pente¬ 
cost  has  not  yet  come  in  our  house,  but  the  Lord  of 
Peace  is  here.  Soon  after  I  came  home  I  visited  my 
brother  and  sister  in  Chesterfield,  and  found  the  son 
of  peace  there  also.  The  .  .  .  clergyman  of  the  vil¬ 
lage  called  upon  me.  After  a  long  and  interesting  con¬ 
versation  with  him,  he  requested  me  to  preach  for 
him  on  the  Sabbath.  I  accepted  his  invitation,  and 
preached  to  a  congregation  unusually  large  the  right¬ 
eousness  of  God.  In  the  evening  of  the  same  day  I 
preached  in  the  hall  of  a  tavern  in  this  village.  The 
hall,  though  large,  could  scarcely  accommodate  more 
than  half  of  those  who  assembled.  God  preached  his 
own  gospel  through  me,  and  his  word  shall  not  return 
unto  him  void. 

This  village  was  never  in  such  a  state  of  agitation 
as  it  is  now.  Publicans  and  sinners  hear  me  more 
gladly  than  the  Pharisees,  and  many  of  them  are 
receiving  the  truth  into  good  and  honest  hearts.  A 


PREACHING  CAMPAIGN  AT  PUTNEY  215 


general  and  most  intense  desire  to  hear  more  prevails. 
I  shall  preach  as  often  and  as  long  as  the  Lord  per¬ 
mits.  On  Thursday  evening  I  shall  preach  at  Dum- 
merston  by  the  urgent  desire  of  several  members  of 
Mr.  B.’s  church,  and  probably  at  Chesterfield  again  in 
the  course  of  the  week.  I  converse  daily  with  inquir¬ 
ing  individuals,  and  have  free  and  welcome  access  to 
many  families.  The  Lord  has  given  me  an  opportu¬ 
nity  to  testify  concerning  his  Son  to  four  clergymen 
since  I  have  been  here,  and  he  has  closed  their  mouths. 
You  see  I  have  full  and  blessed  employment.  The 
fields  around  me  are  white  unto  the  harvest,  and  the 
Lord  says,  “Thrust  in  the  sickle.” 

The  paper  has  gloriously  prepared  the  way  for  the 
preaching  of  faith  in  all  this  region.  Many  are  con¬ 
strained  to  testify  that  it  is  the  most  interesting  paper 
they  ever  read.  I  found  that  Silas  Morgan,  who  takes 
the  paper  here,  had  several  months  ago  commenced 
the  pure  testimony,  and  had  been  mightily  convincing 
everybody  around  him  of  the  truth  of  the  doctrine  of 
perfection.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
but  plainly  declares  to  his  brethren  that  their  case  is 
worse  than  that  of  any  other  denomination.  By  him 
the  door  is  opened  for  me.  I  see  the  fruit  of  our 
labors  and  the  wisdom  of  God  in  the  publication  of 
that  little  paper,  as  I  could  not  while  I  remained  in 
New  Haven.  Truly  we  have  been  scattering  the  seed 
of  the  word  of  God  with  a  broad  cast,  and  even  now 
the  harvest  is  at  hand. 

I  have  occasion  daily  to  testify  against  the  leaven 
of  the  Pharisees,  and  the  Lord  bids  me,  Spare  not. 
When  I  meet  a  self-righteous  minister,  otherwise  a 


216  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

false  prophet,  I  am  usually  girded  for  battle.  Saul 
hurls  his  javelins,  but  David  cannot  be  hurt.  I  am  in 
the  midst  of  a  perpetual  battle,  and  yet  have  perpetual 
peace.  Occasionally  my  spirit  finds  blessed  rest  in 
fellowship  with  some  sweet  believer,  whom  the  Lord 
throws  in  my  way;  but  the  sons  of  God  are  few 
indeed. 

The  fourth  chapter  of  Galatians  is  the  weapon  by 
which  I  have  been  enabled  to  drive  many  a  devil  from 
his  refuge  of  lies;  and  I  have  found  everywhere  that 
as  Ishmael  persecuted  Isaac,  so  the  servants  of  God 
persecute  his  sons.  I  have  thought  the  Lord  would 
let  me  send  you  an  article  for  the  paper  on  the  dis¬ 
tinction  between  servants  and  sons,  but  you  know  I 
cannot  write  on  every  suggestion,  as  I  once  could.  I 
will  send  you  whatever  the  Lord  gives,  when  he  gives 
it. 

Yours  in  the  bond  of  love, 

J.  H.  N. 

Among  those  who  opened  their  homes  for  Perfec¬ 
tionist  meetings  were  Dr.  Alexander  Campbell,  the 
leading  physician  of  the  town,  and  Achsah,  his  wife, 
who  became  deeply  interested  in  Noyes’s  views;  also 
James  Crawford,  a  prominent  lawyer,  and  his  wife, 
Tirzah,  who  though  previously  irreligious  now  mani¬ 
fested  all  the  enthusiasm  of  young  converts. 

The  meetings  were  quite  informal.  Vocal  prayers, 
personal  appeals,  and  the  measures  of  the  professional 
revivalist  were  to  a  large  extent  discarded.  Noyes 
usually  read  from  the  Bible,  and  discoursed  upon  some 
text  or  topic,  giving  opportunity  for  questions  and 


PREACHING  CAMPAIGN  AT  PUTNEY  217 


familiar  conversation.  Tall,  broad-shouldered  but  thin, 
head  massive,  hair  sandy  in  color,  eyes  blue-gray, 
temples  full,  forehead  wide  and  high,  nose  prominent 
and  well-shaped,  lips  thin,  lower  jaw  powerful  and 
slightly  protruding,  back  of  the  head  strongly  devel¬ 
oped,  as  he  stood  before  his  audience  with  polyglot 
Bible  in  hand  he  made  an  indelible  impression  on  the 
memory.  Still  more  striking  were  his  intellectual  and 
moral  qualities.  His  intensity  of  thought,  common 
sense,  argumentative  power,  eloquence,  sympathy, 
originality,  earnestness,  and  self-sacrificing  abandon¬ 
ment  to  principle  all  combined  to  give  him  an  ascend¬ 
ancy  over  the  minds  of  his  hearers  like  that  of  the 
Hebrew  prophets. 

From  the  village  of  Putney  the  interest  in  Noyes’s 
preaching  spread  to  the  “East  Part,’’  a  suburb  adjoin¬ 
ing  the  Connecticut  River,  and  soon  a  flourishing  col¬ 
ony  of  Perfectionists  was  established  there,  including 
the  Palmers,  Lords,  Whites,  Shaws,  Pierces  and  Lov¬ 
ells.  The  hospitality  of  these  believers  was  unbounded, 
and  their  simplicity  and  brotherly  kindness  gave  a 
foretaste  of  the  spirit  of  communism  that  was  to  come. 

As  rumors  of  the  Perfectionist  campaign  spread 
abroad  invitations  to  preach  began  to  pour  in  from 
neighboring  towns.  Noyes  responded  to  these 
demands,  and  thus  the  new  faith  acquired  a  foothold 
in  Westminister,  Dummerston,  Fayetteville  and  other 
places. 

One  morning  a  letter  was  received  from  Mrs,  Field, 
wife  of  the  Congregational  minister  of  West  West¬ 
minster,  a  woman  unknown  to  the  Putney  Perfec¬ 
tionists  except  by  reputation.  She  boldly  denounced 


218  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

the  hypocrisy  and  lukewarmness  of  the  churches,  and 
made  a  whole-hearted  profession  of  salvation  from  sin. 
Her  position  as  a  minister’s  wife  as  well  as  her  elo¬ 
quent  description  of  her  experience  gave  great  cur¬ 
rency  to  her  testimony.  Among  others  who  were  con¬ 
verted  through  her  influence  was  Maria  Clark,  a 
young  woman  of  superior  mind,  and  a  prominent 
member  of  the  church.  Not  only  was  Miss  Clark  a 
great  acquisition  in  herself,  but  her  circle  of  influence 
was  large  and  important.  Her  closest  friend  and  cor¬ 
respondent,  residing  in  the  neighboring  parish  of  East 
Westminster,  was  Harriet  A.  Holton.  Like  her 
friend,  Miss  Holton  was  a  young  woman  of  high 
standing  in  church  and  society.  Less  conspicuous  than 
Miss  Clark  and  less  gifted  in  the  arts  of  expression, 
she  had  greater  depth  and  truer  instincts.  The  glow¬ 
ing  letters  of  Miss  Clark  found  her  waiting  and  eager 
for  the  faith  that  made  free  from  sin.  Through  her 
friend’s  advocacy  and  the  Bible  arguments  presented 
in  The  Perfectionist  she  became  convinced  that  the 
great  desire  of  her  heart  was  attainable.  Her  full 
acceptance  and  profession  of  the  faith  soon  followed. 
In  this  manner  was  won  for  the  cause  the  woman  who 
three  years  later  was  to  become  the  wife  of  Noyes. 

At  the  time  of  Miss  Clark’s  conversion  a  young 
man  twenty-one  years  of  age,  engaged  as  clerk  in  a 
small  store,  was  boarding  in  her  father’s  family.  He 
was  a  man  of  warm  sympathies,  gracious  manners,  and 
unusual  business  talents.  He  was  not  a  church  mem¬ 
ber.  Miss  Clark’s  conversation  first  aroused  his  inter¬ 
est  in  the  subject  of  salvation  from  sin,  and  he  joined 
with  her  in  inviting  Noyes  to  preach  in  the  village 


J  H  NOYES,  1878 
Bergman 


PREACHING  CAMPAIGN  AT  PUTNEY  219 


schoolhouse.  As  a  result  of  the  meeting  he  became  an 
ardent  convert.  This  young  man  was  John  R.  Miller, 
who  later  as  financier  and  diplomatist  gave  invaluable 
service  to  the  Oneida  Community. 

Toward  the  end  of  April  Simon  Lovett  and  Charles 
H.  Weld  came  to  Putney  to  visit  Noyes.  They 
remained  at  the  Noyes  homestead  about  three  weeks, 
and  assisted  in  the  meetings.  Noyes’s  sister  Charlotte 
in  her  reminicences  of  this  period  recalls  Lovett  as 
odd  and  abrupt  in  his  manners,  positive  in  his  testi¬ 
mony,  but  lacking  in  the  power  to  convince.  Weld 
on  the  other  hand  had  the  polish  and  prudence  of  a 
city  clergyman.  Lie  set  forth  the  mystical  revelations 
of  other  spiritual  leaders,  but  did  not  attempt  to  define 
his  own  position.  In  all  he  said  there  was  a  lack  of  the 
living  earnestness  which  made  Noyes’s  words  so 
effective. 

The  success  of  Noyes’s  preaching  naturally  inflamed 
the  jealousy  of  his  opponents,  and  their  bitterness 
added  venom  to  the  rumors  already  rife  about  the 
strange  doctrines  and  disorderly  conduct  of  Perfec¬ 
tionists.  This  fact  brought  about  a  painful  breach 
in  the  family.  Noyes’s  father  was  extremely  sensi¬ 
tive  on  the  subject  of  reputation.  That  his  oldest  son 
through  malicious  lies  should  be  an  outcast  from  re¬ 
spectable  society  was  to  him  unendurable.  One  day  he 
remonstrated  earnestly  with  Noyes  for  not  taking 
measures  to  trace  out  and  suppress  the  stories  which 
were  in  circulation.  Noyes  contended  that  he  ought 
not  to  spend  his  strength  in  caring  for  worldly  reputa¬ 
tion — that  he  should  accept  revilings  and  false  accu¬ 
sations  as  a  part  of  the  inheritance  of  a  son  of  God  in 


220  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

this  world.  His  father  at  this  became  angry.  The 
result  of  the  interview  was  that  Noyes  withdrew  from 
the  house  with  his  two  friends,  and  went  to  live  with 
Mr.  Cutler,  a  new  convert  to  Perfectionism.  Here 
they  remained  until  they  left  Putney  ten  days  later. 
Noyes  had  at  that  time  no  expectation  of  any  further 
favor  from  his  father.  But  in  the  course  of  a  few 
months  his  father  became  reconciled  to  him  and  invited 
him  home.*  Ever  afterward  he  treated  him  with  much 
•kindness. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  in  this  first  Perfectionist 
campaign  at  Putney  Noyes’s  immediate  family  played 
but  an  inconspicuous  part.  His  father  was  following 
the  movement  with  scholarly  attention  and  paternal 
pride,  but  in  the  main  with  unruffled  philosophic  calm. 
His  mother,  though  strongly  attracted  by  the  un¬ 
doubted  evidences  of  piety  in  her  son,  was  holding  off 
on  account  of  the  many  strange  doctrines  which  he 
was  bringing  out.  She  had  still  to  go  through  a  long 
crucifixion  of  habits  and  ideas  before  she  could  yield 
a  whole-hearted  acceptance.  Mary,  Elizabeth,  Joanna 
and  Horatio  were  all  absent  from  Putney.  Horatio 
was  one  of  the  early  New  Haven  converts,  and  was 
supposed  to  be  still  in  sympathy;  but  his  confidence 
had  been  severely  shocked  by  his  brother’s  New  York 
experience,  and  in  the  course  of  the  next  year  or  two 
he  gradually  withdrew  from  fellowship.  Harriet  and 
Charlotte  took  a  deep  sisterly  interest  in  their  broth¬ 
er’s  movements,  and  attended  his  meetings  regularly 
despite  the  frowns  and  warnings  of  their  fashionable 

*  Noyes  spent  the  winter  of  1835-6  at  his  father’s  home. — 
G.  W.  N. 


PREACHING  CAMPAIGN  AT  PUTNEY  221 


friends,  but  were  as  yet  unconverted.  George  was  a 
boy  in  school,  not  yet  old  enough  to  understand.  A 
year  and  a  half  must  still  elapse  before  any  members 
of  Noyes’s  immediate  family  could  be  reckoned  as 
belonging  to  the  gathering  Perfectionist  church. 

But  the  converts  from  without  the  family,  who 
came  into  the  faith  during  this  campaign  in  1835, 
became  at  once  a  bulwark  to  the  cause  of  salvation 
from  sin.  Modest  and  teachable  they  were  also  faith¬ 
ful.  Unlike  the  New  Haven  group,  who  were  already 
scattering  before  the  storms,  these  believers  from  the 
vicinity  of  Putney  stood  firm  and  united  through  the 
storms  that  were  yet  to  come.  Nearly  all  of  them  were 
either  members  of  the  Putney  Community  after  its 
organization  in  1838,  or  were  staunch  outside  friends. 
And  in  Harriet  A.  Holton  and  John  R.  Miller  we  see 
the  first  of  those  that  cast  in  their  fortunes  for  better 
or  for  worse  with  Noyes,  and  with  him  labored  and 
suffered  to  make  the  Oneida  Community  a  true  repre¬ 
sentative  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth. 


CHAPTER  XXI 


CONFLICT  WITH  CHARLES  H.  WELD 

Confession  of  Religious  Experience 

It  will  be  remembered  that  after  I  had  been  engaged 
several  weeks  in  the  revival  at  Putney  I  was  joined 
by  Simon  Lovett  and  Charles  H.  Weld.  Weld  was  at 
this  time  in  correspondence  with  Mrs.  Carrington  of 
Oswego,  New  York,  who  had  recently  been  con¬ 
verted  to  Perfectionism  by  his  labors  and  was  soar¬ 
ing  in  the  highest  regions  of  ecstasy  and  boasting. 
She  maintained  for  a  time  a  pre-eminent  position  as 
spiritual  critic,  but  afterwards  abandoned  the  faith 
and  became  insane.  Her  letters  were  specially  spiced 
with  censures  of  my  carnality  and  worldly  wisdom. 
Weld  read  them  in  public  and  private  as  highly  val¬ 
uable  documents. 

Weld  had  been  confirmed  by  his  visit  to  T.  R.  Gates 
in  the  impression,  of  which  there  were  traces  before, 
that  he  was  destined  to  be  the  president  of  the  dispen¬ 
sation  which  Perfectionism  was  introducing.  The 
following  extract  of  a  letter  from  Gates  to  Boyle, 
published  in  The  Perfectionist  July  20,  1835,  will  give 
the  reader  a  glimpse  of  the  prophetical  flattery  which 
he  had  administered  to  Weld’s  self-conceit: 

“I  see  by  your  last  number  that  you  will  have  all 
the  hosts  of  anti-christ  arrayed  against  you ;  but  when 
the  enemy  comes  in  like  a  flood,  the  Lord  will  lift  up 

222 


CONFLICT  WITH  WELD 


223 


a  standard  against  him.  If  you  have  been  called  to  do 
what  some  of  us  have  had  to  do,  they  might  complain, 
and  pour  out  abuse,  and  gnaw  their  tongues  for  pain. 
The  more  you  are  abused  and  suffer,  the  higher  you 
will  rise;  and  by  and  by,  when  the  Immanuel  child 
becomes  as  the  mighty  God,  you  will  become  terrible 
as  an  army  with  banners,  and  your  enemies  will  flee 
away.  It  is  my  belief  that  this  mighty  power  will  yet 

be  felt  in  brother  W - ;  but  first  he  will  have  to  be 

like  Christ,  crucified  through  weakness,  and  remain 
in  the  tomb  for  a  time.” 

I  did  not  at  first  object  to  the  theory  of  Weld’s  pre¬ 
eminence.  In  consequence  of  the  relation  which  was 
thus  established  between  us  his  spirit  at  first  prevailed 
over  mine  in  respect  to  outward  leadings.  But  in 
process  of  time  I  was  constrained  to  cross  the  bent 
of  his  spirit.  He  was  manifestly  chafed  as  my  eman¬ 
cipation  proceeded.  We  finally  came  to  downright 
cross  purposes  in  the  following  manner:  He  had 
taken  a  meditative  jaunt  through  a  circle  of  towns 
in  Massachusetts,  and  had  come  home  full  of  revela¬ 
tions  founded  on  mystical  interpretations  of  the  names 
of  the  places  through  which  he  had  passed.  For 
instance  he  said  that  the  first  place  he  came  to  was 
Royalton,  which  meant  that  he  was  to  be  king  of  the 
new  dispensation.  The  next  place  was  Templeton, 
which  indicated  that  he  was  to  be  high  priest  also. 
Next  was  Northfield,  which  meant  that  he  and  I  were 
to  make  a  tour  through  the  northern  parts  of  Ver¬ 
mont.  I  felt  some  involuntary  disgust  at  this  non¬ 
sense,  but  signified  my  willingness  to  follow  his  lead¬ 
ings,  if  my  own  accorded  with  them.  A  few  days 


224  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

afterward  I  became  convinced  that  my  journey  was 
to  be  in  the  opposite  direction.  Boyle  was  then  pro¬ 
posing  to  publish  an  Extra,  and  I  thought  it  my  duty 
to  go  to  New  Haven  and  help.  Weld  wrestled  against 
me  for  some  days.  At  length  one  morning  I  told  him 
that  I  should  start  immediately.  He  said  he  would 
walk  with  me  a  mile  or  two.  At  the  end  of  his  pro¬ 
posed  walk  I  said  that  I  wished  he  was  going  with 
me,  and  he  concluded  at  once  to  go. 

The  war  of  wills  between  us  increased.  There  was 
no  external  dissension,  but  a  conscious  antagonism  of 
spirit  carried  on  not  by  words  but  by  the  direct  lan¬ 
guage  of  the  heart  and  brain.  An  influence  from 
Weld  would  engage  me  in  an  internal  debate  and  I 
would  find  myself  driven  to  the  alternative  of  either 
sinking  under  it  or  breaking  it  by  out-reasoning  its 
subtleties.  At  length  after  beating  off  his  enchant¬ 
ments  again  and  again  I  told  him  that  the  issue  between 
us  was,  whether  he  or  I  had  the  strongest  mind,  and 
that  one  or  the  other  must  fall.  He  assented.  Finally 
I  brought  his  spirit  into  a  corner  from  which  there 
was  no  retreat.  Then  I  went  to  him  and  told  him  that 
I  had  won  the  victory.  He  perceived  it.  There  was 
no  dispute,  no  bitterness  between  us.  I  went  imme¬ 
diately  out  and  for  an  hour  walked  the  fields  south 
of  the  city  in  the  agony  of  one  who  has  barely  escaped 
from  a  whirlpool.  When  I  returned,  I  found  without 
surprise  that  he  had  suffered  a  paroxysm  similar  to 
that  in  the  Free  Church  the  year  before. 

Here  was  the  end  of  my  personal  intercourse  with 
Charles  H.  Weld.  I  subsequently  wrote  him  a  letter 
of  renunciation,  which  will  be  found  further  on  in 
this  narrative. 


CHAPTER  XXII 


RENEWED  SUSPICIONS 

Confession  of  Religions  Experience 

At  the  close  of  my  campaign  with  Weld  I  went  with 
Lovett  to  Prospect.  It  was  high  time  that  my  spirit 
should  be  loosed  from  the  fixtures  which  were  gath¬ 
ering  about  it.  In  the  spring  of  1834  Perfectionism 
had  encountered  a  flood  of  enmity  from  the  clergy 
and  churches,  and  in  the  spiritual  whirl  of  that  flood 
I  had  been  wrecked  and  stripped  and  cast  forth  to 
desolation.  Now  through  Lovett  a  similar  flood  was 
coming  upon  us  from  New  York  Perfectionism,  and 
again  I  was  plunged  into  a  wild  whirl  of  spirits.  The 
experience  through  which  I  passed  during  several 
weeks  which  I  spent  at  Prospect  at  this  time  was 
similar  to  that  of  which  I  have  given  an  account  in 
the  narrative  of  my  visit  to  New  York.  The  exercises 
of  my  mind  were  different  in  many  of  their  details, 
and  on  the  whole  less  revolutionary  and  distressing, 
but  the  general  resemblance  was  such  that  it  would 
be  superfluous  to  recount  them.  The  turn  which  my 
mind  took  at  this  time  in  regard  to  sexual  morality 
had  much  influence  on  my  subsequent  course,  and 
will  be  referred  to  in  a  later  writing.  I  did  nothing  of 
which  I  had  occasion  to  be  ashamed,  but  I  lost  repu¬ 
tation  with  those  who  saw  only  externals.  My  spirit 

225 


226 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


was  weaned  from  bondage  to  Boyle  and  to  the  paper. 
I  was  loosed  from  all  the  moorings  of  ordinary  pru¬ 
dence,  and  sent  adrift  once  more  with  no  pilot  but  God. 


Noyes's  Sister  Joanna  to  Her  Mother 

New  Haven,  June  25,  1835. 

Dear  Mother: — John  has  been  in  to  see  me  this 

afternoon,  and  after  a  long  crying  fit  about  him  I 

have  concluded  to  write  home.  I  have  seen  him  but 
> 

once  before  since  he  came;  that  was  the  Monday  after. 
He  was  then  in  a  state  of  great  excitement,  and  the 
interview  gave  me  no  pleasure.  He  would  not  reason 
at  all,  but  denounced  everything  and  everybody.  He 
looked  haggard  and  careworn,  and  I  felt  positive 
after  he  left  that  he  was  deranged.  This  afternoon 
he  appears  different,  more  as  he  did  when  he  came 
home  last  summer.  His  feelings  seem  to  be  softened 
down,  and  he  exhibits  some  gentleness  and  kindness. 
He  says  he  has  been  led  through  another  series  of 
trials  and  temptations  like  those  he  experienced  in 
New  York.  He  has  been  fighting  with  the  adversary 
for  the  last  six  months,  and  the  greatest  conflict  has 
been  since  he  left  Putney.  He  says  he  has  now  got 
the  victory,  and  is  at  peace  again.  But  his  strange 
actions  have  shaken  the  confidence  of  all  the  Perfec¬ 
tionists  here  in  him,  and  they  turn  him  off  from  their 
fellowship,  so  that  he  has  now  no  home  and  no  friends 
in  the  wide  world.  He  seems  to  feel  his  forlorn  con¬ 
dition,  and  says  he  has  been  studying  for  a  few  days 
past  what  is  best  to  do.  He  says  none  who  know  him 
will  admit  him  into  their  shops  to  learn  a  trade,  or 


RENEWED  SUSPICIONS 


227 


their  stores  as  a  clerk,  though  he  would  be  willing  to 
do  something,  could  he  find  employment.  I  told  him 
he  could  go  to  New  York,  and  become  a  clerk  in  a 
counting-house.  He  seems  to  fall  in  with  this  idea, 
and  says  he  will  call  and  talk  about  it  again.  If  he 
concludes  to  try  this  plan,  I  have  told  him  I  would 
let  him  have  some  money. 

My  heart  aches  for  him.  You  know  not  how  friend¬ 
less  he  looks.  It  is  enough  to  destroy  my  whole  hap¬ 
piness  to  see  him  and  think  of  him.  He  seems  to  be 
rational  now,  though  I  can  discover  something  wild 
when  he  speaks  about  his  particular  views.  His  views 
upon  holiness  are,  I  think,  rational;  but  on  other 
religious  subjects,  and  in  talking  to  people  in  a  way 
to  give  offense,  he  is  certainly  deranged.  Do  acknowl¬ 
edge  that  this  is  true,  and  do  pity  him.  I  hope  he  will 
conclude  to  go  to  New  York.  If  his  attention  should 
be  diverted  from  these  subjects  which  have  occupied 
his  mind  so  long  and  so  constantly,  and  he  should 
be  engaged  about  something  that  interested  him,  he 
would  get  right  again. 

Your  daughter, 

Joanna  N.  Hayes.* 

Answering  for  the  family  June  30th,  Harriet 
writes : 

“If  you  could  see  Father  or  Mother  now,  you  would 
not  think  the  contents  of  your  letter  had  fallen  with 
little  weight  upon  them.  Father  seems  bowed  down 
and  almost  broken-hearted  under  it,  and  it  is  evident 
he  feels  much  more  than  he  is  willing  to  express.  He 

*  Joanna  had  recently  married  Samuel  Hayes  of  New  Haven, 
U.  S.  Consul  at  Trinidad,  West  Indies. — G.  W.  N. 


228  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

wishes  to  have  me  write  to  you  particularly  not  to 
advise  John  to  go  to  New  York,  for  he  thinks  it  would 
be  the  worst  place  possible ;  that  Galway,  or  this  place, 
would  be  much  preferable.  Elizabeth  would  be  very 
glad  to  have  him  go  out  to  Galway,  and  stay  with  her 
as  long  as  he  will;  and  Father  hopes  he  will  go  there, 
or  come  to  this  town.” 

But  Harriet  scouts  the  idea  that  John  is  crazy.  She 
says : 

“I  should  think  from  your  letter  that  his  last  con¬ 
flict  had  ushered  him  into  an  entirely  new  dispensa¬ 
tion,  and  produced  as  much  alteration  in  him  as  his 
time  in  New  York.  It  is  no  evidence  to  me,  however, 
that  he  is  crazy  or  deluded.  I  don’t  know  why,  but 
I  could  not  believe  him  either,  though  all  the  rest  of 
the  world  did ;  and  I  think  too,  I  am  not  capricious  or 
obstinate  about  it,  but  reasonable.  Charlotte  and  I 
are  unwilling  to  acknowledge,  as  you  wish,  that  he  is 
crazy.  Others  here  at  home  are  rather  wavering,  I 
think.  Time  will  bring  all  things  to  light.  Give  our 
love  to  John.  Did  you  say  that  he  feels  his  forlorn 
condition?  Tell  him  he  has  friends  here  who  think 
everything  of  him.  I  have  no  doubt  but  in  giving  up 
his  home  and  friends  he  has  received  a  hundred  fold 
in  this  life  according  to  the  promise.” 

Just  at  this  crisis,  as  if  designed  by  Providence  to 
strengthen  the  wavering  faith  of  the  family,  let¬ 
ters  were  received  telling  of  the  wonderful  results  of 
Noyes’s  preaching  at  Westminster  and  the  neighbor¬ 
ing  towns.  One  of  these  was  from  Mrs.  Field,  wife  of 
the  Congregational  minister  at  West  Westminster. 
It  gave  a  glowing  account  of  her  recent  experience  in 


HARRIET  (NOYES)  SKINNER 


RENEWED  SUSPICIONS 


229 


attaining  salvation  from  sin.  Another  letter  was  from 
Maria  Clark.  It  brought  the  news  of  Harriet  A.  Hol¬ 
ton’s  conversion  to  Perfectionism,  and  contained  this 
paragraph :  “I  have  feared  lest  your  dear  brother 
had  bestowed  labor  upon  us  in  vain,  but  thanks  be  to 
God  it  has  not  been  in  vain  in  the  Lord.  I  have  tried 
for  a  time  in  part  to  conceal  the  flood  of  light  and  love 
which  has  burst  upon  my  soul,  but  in  vain.  It  must 
flow  out  in  words,  or  the  very  stones  would  cry  out. 
I  am  so  unlike  my  former  self,  that  I  am  a  wonder 
to  myself.  Formerly  my  first  desire  was  to  please  the 
world,  and  then,  if  there  was  any  part  of  my  heart 
left,  present  it  to  God.  But  He  was  not  pleased  with 
the  offering,  and  I  felt  His  frown.  Now  however  I 
can  rejoice  in  His  favor,  and  do  rejoice.  And  though 
my  dear  friends  think  me  deluded,  I  can  only  feel  for 
them  love,  and  a  strong  desire  that  they  may  be  led 
captive  in  the  same  way.”  From  other  sources  came 
the  word  that  four  or  five  persons  in  the  neighboring 
towns  had  come  out  boldly  on  the  Perfectionist  plat¬ 
form,  while  others  were  eagerly  inquiring. 

July  nth  Joanna  writes  again,  this  time  to 
Mary: 

“I  know  not  what  to  think  of  John.  You  are  all 
so  positive  that  he  is  not  deranged,  that  I  feel  as  if  I 
ought  not  to  think  so.  But  I  know  not  how  other¬ 
wise  to  account  for  his  strange  conduct.  I  cannot 
reconcile  his  practice  and  feelings  with  my  ideas  of 
perfection,  and  if  he  is  not  deranged,  there  is  no  con¬ 
solation  for  me.  If  he  is  deranged,  he  is  more  an 
object  of  pity  than  any  one  I  ever  heard  of.  He  is  a 
homeless  wanderer,  and  is  entirely  dependent  upon 


230 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


charity.  If  he  continues  his  present  course  of  life,  I 
know  not  why  he  will  not  become  a  beggar  from  door 
to  door.  I  do  think  you  at  home  ought  to  decide 
whether  he  is  deranged  or  not.  If  you  think  he  is 
not,  and  approve  of  the  course  he  is  taking,  you  ought 
to  provide  for  his  comfort,  and  not  let  him  live  in  this 
way.  If  you  will  say  that  he  is  deranged,  I  will  do 
all  that  I  can  to  make  him  comfortable.  I  do  not  feel 
as  if  it  were  my  duty  to  assist  him  while  he  pursues  a 
course  that  I  cannot  approve,  if  he  is  really  in  the 
possession  of  his  reason.  If  he  would  find  some 
employment  that  would  support  him,  I  would  help 
him,  if  it  was  necessary;  but  I  do  not  wish  to  give  him 
money  if  it  would  encourage  him  to  pursue  his  pres¬ 
ent  course.  Do  think  of  this,  and  see  if  I  am  not 
right.” 

To  this  Mrs.  Noyes  on  July  18th  replies  : 

‘‘The  effect  which  your  late  letters  would  have  on 
my  weak  nerves  you  can  as  well  imagine  as  I  describe. 
All  I  can  say  is,  I  am  enabled  to  trust  the  faithfulness 
of  God.  The  way  in  which  John  is  led  is  truly  mys¬ 
terious,  and  I  could  not  justify  his  conduct  but  that 
I  believe  that  God  will  sustain  him.  We  have  much 
evidence  that,  notwithstanding  his  singular  conduct, 
the  Lord  is  with  him,  and  has  spoken  by  him.  I  have 
been  very  much  tried,  and  do  not  now  know  as  I  wish 
to,  but  I  trust  the  truth  will  yet  be  shown  me.  I  can 
do  nothing  for  him.  The  manner  in  which  he  left 
home  forbids  me  to  think  of  it.” 

And  Harriet  adds:  “You  asked  me  to  convince 
you,  if  I  could,  that  John  was  not  deranged.  I  don’t 
suppose  I  could,  if  I  should  attempt,  but  the  mere 


RENEWED  SUSPICIONS 


231 


effort  would  seem  to  me  as  foolish  and  absurd  as  to 
try  to  prove  by  argument  that  the  sun  shines.” 

Thus  in  spite  of  unfavorable  appearances  the  con¬ 
fidence  of  Noyes's  family  and  of  Perfectionists  in 
the  vicinity  of  Putney  remained  for  the  most  part 
unshaken. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 


AN  INTERVAL  OF  PEACE 

“In  the  fall  of  1835  during  a  residence  of  some 
weeks  in  Milford,  Connecticut,”  writes  Noyes,  “my 
mind  recovered  from  the  confusion  of  my  late  deso¬ 
lating  experience  and  took  a  highly  favorable  turn. 
I  studied  Weld’s  character,  and  emancipated  myself 
forever  from  the  shackles  of  his  influence.  I  saw  that 
an  independent  and  for  the  present  a  solitary  course 
was  laid  out  for  me.  I  had  an  anticipative  view  of 
much  of  the  way  in  which  I  have  since  been  led.  From 
this  period  I  date  the  birth  of  many  of  the  purposes 
which  I  am  still  pursuing.” 

Noyes  to  His  Mother 

Milford,  Sept.  9,  1835. 

Dear  Mother : — So  far  as  I  am  concerned,  the  work 
of  bloodshed  is  finished.  The  God  of  battles  has  given 
me  the  liberty  for  which  I  have  long  been  contend¬ 
ing.  I  am  as  free  for  God’s  service,  as  if  I  had  never 
known  father,  or  mother,  or  brother,  or  sister;  and 
now  I  am  ready  to  turn  and  bind  up  the  wounds  I 
have  given  in  the  conflict  that  is  past.  “The  wisdom 
that  cometh  from  above  is  first  pure,  then  peaceable” ; 
not  first  peaceable,  and  then  pure.  During  my  spirit¬ 
ual  infancy  I  have  been  compelled  to  fight  for  purity. 

232 


AN  INTERVAL  OF  PEACE 


2  33 


Now  I  am  strong  enough  to  proclaim  peace,  and  to 
keep  the  peace,  whether  my  proclamation  is  heeded 
or  not.  “Charity  thinketh  no  evil.”  That  charity  is 
mine.  I  see  nothing  but  good  in  the  universe.  All 
that  is  called  evil  is  good  to  one  whose  head  is  above 
the  clouds.  “Evil  to  him  who  evil  thinks.” 

“Charity  vaunteth  not  itself.”  That  charity  is 
mine;  and  when  I  speak  well  of  my  own  estate,  you 
will  understand  that  I  magnify  only  the  grace  of  God, 
by  which  alone  I  am  what  I  am.  God  claims  me  as 
his  own  property,  and  I  admit  the  equity  of  his  claim. 
My  body,  soul  and  spirit  with  all  that  belong  to  them 
are  his.  I  can  never  have  goodness,  or  greatness,  or 
glory  separately  from  him.  As  one  with  him  I  glory. 
I  cannot  conceal  his  righteousness.  I  cannot  assume 
a  voluntary  humility. 

In  giving  an  account  of  myself,  if  I  do  not  fully 
gratify  the  curiosity  expressed  in  Harriet’s  letter,  I 
shall  at  least  remove  from  your  minds  all  just  reasons 
for  anxiety  concerning  me.  My  character  has  under¬ 
gone  a  great  change  since  I  was  with  you,  and  indeed 
within  a  few  weeks.  You  will  perhaps  accuse  me  of 
fickleness.  Let  me  say  before  answering  the  charge, 
that  to  me  accusation  is  but  commendation.  If  a  man 
accuses  me  of  idleness,  by  implication  he  commends 
industry;  and  as  I  am  conscious  of  possessing  that 
good  quality,  I  take  to  myself  the  implied  commen¬ 
dation,  and  leave  the  expressed  censure  for  those  who 
deserve  it.  In  like  manner,  if  you  charge  me  with 
fickleness,  you  thereby  praise  stability;  and  as  I  know 
myself  to  be  immutable  in  obedience  to  the  will  of 
God,  I  thank  you  for  your  commendation.  True  it 


234 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


is  that  I  have  passed  through  many  changes  of  exter¬ 
nal  character  within  the  last  two  years.  Like  a  man 
climbing  a  mountain,  as  I  have  reached  one  eminence 
after  another  the  prospect  around  me  has  widened, 
the  coloring  and  local  appearance  of  the  scenery  has 
changed.  But  my  eye  has  still  rested  on  the  summit; 
my  nerves  have  still  been  strung  for  the  ascent.  I 
have  never  taken  a  step  backward,  and  never  shall, 
till  I  sit  down  with  Christ  on  his  Father's  throne.  I 
thank  God  for  the  varied  scenery  of  my  course ;  and  I 
thank  him  for  the  immutability  of  its  direction. 

During  the  summer  I  have  been  studying  theology 
in  New  Haven  and  the  country  round  about,  not  with 
book  or  pen,  but  with  all  the  energy  of  the  intellect 
which  God  has  given  me.  Severe  suffering  of  body 
and  mind  was  a  necessary  and  salutary  accompani¬ 
ment  of  my  studies,  for  which  I  give  thanks.  A  com¬ 
plete  separation  from  the  sect  of  Perfectionists  has 
been  one  of  the  happiest  results  of  my  meditations,  and 
I  am  now  free  from  my  spiritual  as  well  as  my  natural 
relatives. 

Some  of  the  practical  conclusions  to  which  I  have 
been  led  are  as  follows:  I  have  learned  that  the  love 
of  God,  self-love,  and  the  love  of  mankind  are  all 
one;  that  perfect,  that  is,  enlightened  self-love  is  and 
ought  to  be  the  mainspring  of  the  human  machine ; 
that  in  blessing  and  perfecting  myself  I  glorify  God, 
and  bless  mankind.  I  have  learned  that  perfect  self- 
possession  stands  first  in  the  list  of  blessings  which  God 
gives  his  sons,  and  that  self-knowledge  is  the  first  les¬ 
son  in  their  education.  To  this  lesson  I  have  been 
devoting  my  attention,  and  my  discoveries  have  been 


AN  INTERVAL  OF  PEACE 


235 


such  that  I  have  given  up  all  thoughts  of  undertaking 
the  business  of  teaching  others,  until  I  have  attained 
perfect  self-knowledge  and  perfect  self-control.  A 
preacher  by  implication  professes  to  know  important 
truth,  and  also  to  know  how  it  should  be  communi¬ 
cated.  I  shall  therefore  never  again  assume  the  place 
of  a  public  teacher,  till  I  am  certain  that  I  possess 
such  an  amount  of  important  truth  and  such  a  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  human  mind,  that  I  can  honestly  fulfill  the 
promises  of  such  a  profession.  When  I  compare 
mvself  with  those  who  walk  in  the  shadows  of  this 

•r' 

world,  I  perceive  that  I  know  much ;  but  when  I  cast 
a  glance  at  the  unexplored  fields  of  knowledge  com¬ 
prised  within  the  first  lesson  of  the  book  which  God 
has  put  into  my  hands,  I  know  I  am  but  a  sophomore, 
and  I  lose  all  relish  for  the  enterprise  of  instructing 
others. 

Having  thus  studied  myself  out  of  friends  and 
business,  and  being  without  money,  I  began  not  long 
since  to  inquire  the  will  of  God  concerning  temporal 
support.  I  found  that  the  love  of  independence  was 
one  of  the  strongest  cravings  of  my  nature,  and  that 
this  could  never  be  gratified  till  I  earned  my  bread  as 
other  people  do.  I  found  that  the  love  of  money, 
which  I  know  is  the  root  of  all  evil,  the  reigning 
idolatry  especially  of  New  England,  was  forever  extin¬ 
guished  in  myself,  and  that  I  need  not  fear  to  seek 
money  lest  I  should  adore  it.  In  view  of  these  con¬ 
siderations  I  came  to  the  deliberate  and  fixed  deter¬ 
mination  to  engage  in  some  business  which  should 
render  me  independent  of  friends  for  worldly  suste¬ 
nance.  An  acquaintance  in  this  place  employed  me 


236  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

for  a  time  in  collecting  his  debts,  and  I  am  about  to 
commence  with  him  tomorrow  a  survey  of  the  town 
for  the  purpose  of  making  a  map,  which  will  occupy 
us  several  weeks.  I  have  engaged  in  these  matters 
as  Providence  threw  them  in  my  way,  with  the  expec¬ 
tation  of  getting  better  business  soon.  I  am  seeking 
my  fortune,  and  for  the  present  have  a  good  season 
to  look  about  me  and  devise  ways  and  means. 

The  people  of  the  place  are  very  friendly,  and  insist 
upon  my  preaching  to  them  on  Sunday.  I  shall  give 
them  a  talk.  I  can  at  least  tell  them  I  know  nothing, 
and  am  not  a  preacher. 

It  would  not  be  strange  if  I  should  teach  a  school 
this  fall.  I  have  courage  enough  to  believe  that  I  can 
gain  the  confidence  of  this  community  sufficiently  for 
such  a  purpose.  The  man  with  whom  I  am  now  con¬ 
nected  is  much  attached  to  me,  and  wishes  to  keep  me 
here  and  forward  my  designs  in  every  way  possible. 

I  have  given  you  a  general  sketch  of  my  situation 
and  prospects.  Let  me  say  for  the  comfort  of  such 
as  prize  the  wisdom  of  this  world,  that  in  my  own 
opinion  I  never  was  so  sober  and  considerate  as  at  this 
present  time.  The  children  of  this  world  have  been 
wiser  than  the  children  of  light;  but  I  promise  you, 
they  shall  be  so  no  longer,  if  my  example  and  influ¬ 
ence  avail  anything.  I  have  learned  that  logic  is  worth 
more  than  poetry,  and  matter-of-fact  industry  more 
than  building  air-castles. 

My  head  is  just  now  full  of  Yankee  notions  about 
money-making  and  economy,  and  I  have  become  a 
great  admirer  of  Dr.  Franklin.  Is  not  this  a  wonder¬ 
ful  metamorphosis?  I  hope  you  will  all  have  a  hearty 


AN  INTERVAL  OF  PEACE 


237 


laugh  over  it,  and  that  no  suspicion  of  deception  or 
fear  of  disappointment  will  shade  your  anticipations 
of  my  success  and  welfare.  If  my  mutability  forbids 
you  to  expect  permanency  of  purpose,  I  can  only  send 
you  to  the  throne  of  God,  where  my  own  hopes  of 
stability  are  anchored.  I  know  more  fully  than  you 
can  know  the  chaotic  ocean  of  change  over  which  I 
have  been  tossed.  Yet  I  have  lost  no  confidence  in 
myself,  because  I  know  that  God  has  been,  and  is  my 
pilot;  and  as  I  now  perceive  myself  riding  quietly  at 
anchor  in  the  haven  of  God’s  peace,  I  have  no  dispo¬ 
sition  to  lose  the  comforts  of  my  present  situation  by 
anticipating  future  shipwrecks,  I  fear  neither  ocean, 
nor  storm,  nor  quicksands,  nor  whirlpools.  Innocence 
cannot  fear. 

I  verily  believe,  Mother,  if  I  had  your  bodily  con¬ 
stitution  with  all  its  infirmities,  I  should  soon  find  my 
way  to  the  blessing  of  sleep  and  sound  health.  Your 
mind  diseases  your  body,  and  you  think  you  cannot 
control  your  mind.  I  know  you  can  with  God’s  help. 
My  own  mind  has  sometimes  preyed  upon  my  health, 
and  I  have  thought  that  I  could  not  control  its  move¬ 
ments.  But  now  I  know  better.  I  have  learned  that 
God  has  not  kindled  a  fire  in  my  brain  to  burn  me  up, 
but  to  warm  me;  and  when  the  fire  goes  beyond  its 
proper  office,  I  throw  water  on  it.  The  pilot  of  a 
steamboat  can  stop  his  vessel  in  a  moment  even  when 
it  is  under  full  pressure.  The  human  mind  under 
proper  government  is  as  obsequious  to  the  will  of  its 
pilot  as  a  steamboat.  In  the  midst  of  the  mightiest 
movements  of  which  my  mind  is  capable  I  stop  think¬ 
ing  in  a  moment,  if  my  life  begins  to  suffix**  under  the 


238 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


pressure,  and  I  can  be  perfectly  thoughtless  when  I 
please,  and  sleep  when  I  please.  I  should  prefer  to 
be  the  slave  of  a  southern  negro  driver  rather  than  be 
the  slave  of  my  own  brain.  Will  you  not  set  yourself 
to  inquire  whether  you  are  not  voluntarily  the  slave 
of  your  own  mind,  and  whether  you  may  not  be  disen¬ 
thralled  ? 

We  shall  all,  men,  women  and  children,  find  the 
necessity  of  studying  metaphysics  before  we  shall 
secure  the  end  of  our  being.  Horatio,  Harriet,  Char¬ 
lotte  and  George  have  studied  almost  everything  save 
the  a,  b,  c  of  useful  knowledge.  They  know  much 
about  the  solar  system  and  the  fixed  stars,  but  how 
much  do  they  know  about  their  own  nature,  the 
machinery  in  the  midst  of  which  they  live?  If  God 
ever  qualifies  me  to  write  a  book,  my  subject  shall  be 
self-knowledge.  I  have  begun  to  discover  that  I  am 
fearfully  and  wonderfully  made ;  that  I  am  a  glorious 
kingdom  in  myself,  a  kingdom  that  has  long  lain  in 
ruins  through  misrule  and  darkness,  but  is  yet  capable 
of  glorifying  its  maker  and  rendering  a  rich  revenue 
of  blessedness  to  its  sovereign.  When  I  have  com¬ 
pletely  ascertained  the  limits,  character  and  resources 
of  this  kingdom,  quelled  all  the  rebellions  which  waste 
it,  and  secured  the  revenue  which  is  due  to  its  king,  I 
shall  be  prepared  to  assist  other  sovereigns  in  like 
enterprises.  Till  then  I  shall  not  write  a  book. 

You  perceive  I  have  grown  very  selfish  and  egotis¬ 
tical.  Elerein  I  think  my  example  is  the  best  possible. 
“Charity  begins  at  home”  is  one  of  those  maxims  in 
which  the  superior  wisdom  of  the  children  of  this 
world  is  manifest.  Act  upon  it  under  the  light  of  God, 


AN  INTERVAL  OF  PEACE 


239 


and  I  engage  you  shall  do  more  good  than  all  the  mis¬ 
sionaries  of  the  American  Board.  That  love  of  souls 
which  hurries  and  worries  to  save  others,  while  self 
remains  in  ruins,  is  baby-benevolence,  foolish  and 
fatal  kindness.  I  deliberately  avow  it  as  my  purpose 
to  make  the  most  of  myself.  Call  this  selfishness  if 
you  will;  it  is  selfishness  which  requires  perfect  benev¬ 
olence.  While  I  would  exhort  all  “not  to  think  more 
highly  of  themselves  than  they  ought  to  think,”  I 
would  also  exhort  all  not  to  think  more  meanly  of 
themselves  than  they  ought  to  think.  Independently 
of  God  all  flesh  is  grass;  but  as  the  creatures  of  God 
you  rank  among  the  noblest  of  God’s  works.  Harriet, 
Charlotte,  awake!  Stand  up  in  the  majesty  of  your 
nature!  We  have  lived  like  brutes — let  us  live  like 
rational  human  beings ! 

If  I  can  in  any  way  help  any  of  you  to  burst  from 
your  bondage,  tell  me  how.  I  will  gladly  write  as 
often  as  you  wish,  if  my  communications  can  effect 
anything  for  this  object.  I  care  not  to  pamper  curios¬ 
ity  or  mere  family  affection,  but  if  we  may  hold  such 
correspondence  as  becomes  immortal  beings,  I  shall 
most  joyfully  fulfill  my  share  of  the  task. 

Notwithstanding  your  imaginations  about  my  stoi¬ 
cism,  I  assure  you  my  relish  for  a  letter  from  home 
has  not  abated  one  jot  or  tittle  in  consequence  of  my 
emancipation  from  your  apron-strings.  Neither  has 
my  affection  for  you  all  suffered  the  least  diminution. 
Rather  it  has  vastly  increased,  and  withal  it  has 
become  pure.  I  should  be  glad  to  visit  Putney  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  desires  expressed  by  many,  but  at  present  I 
have  no  business  there. 


240 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


Let  Mrs.  Campbell  know  my  situation,  and  thank 
her  for  her  letter  and  her  interest  in  my  welfare.  Tell 
the  people  to  wait  on  the  Lord,  and  not  on  me  or  any 
other  man.  Tell  them  to  look  for  greater  things  than 
my  work  among  them  last  spring.  We  are  all  yet  in 
the  wilderness.  The  pillar  of  fire  is  before  us,  but  we 
have  not  yet  reached  the  land  flowing  with  milk  and 
honey.  I  see  glorious  light  ahead,  but  gross  darkness 
yet  covers  the  people.  A  few  are  beginning  to  watch 
for  the  morning. 

Take  care  of  yourselves.  Be  quiet  about  me.  The 
peace  of  God  be  with  you. 


J.  H.  Noyes. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 


DARKNESS  AND  TRIAL 

Confession  of  Religious  Experience 

While  I  was  at  Milford  I  was  induced  by  my  friend, 
Mr.  Lambert,  and  others  to  preach  one  Sunday  in  a 
schoolhouse.  But  the  doctrine  of  salvation  from  sin, 
as  might  be  supposed,  was  unpopular  at  that  time  in 
the  vicinity  of  New  Haven.  While  some  received  my 
discourse  with  interest,  others  were  enraged  by  it ;  and 
before  the  meeting  closed  the  roughs  on  the  outside 
dashed  several  stones  through  the  windows. 

After  concluding  my  engagements  at  Milford  I 
went  in  October  1835  to  New  York  City  to  look  for 
employment.  Not  finding  any  satisfactory  opening  I 
passed  on  to  Newark.  Here  I  met  Abram  C.  Smith, 
a  former  Methodist  preacher,  who  with  several  others 
at  Newark  had  become  a  Perfectionist  tender  the 
influence  of  the  New  Haven  paper.  Smith  at  first, 
like  many  others  at  that  period,  regarded  me  with 
suspicion,  but  on  further  acquaintance  received  me 
with  hearty  good  will  and  confidence.  He  was  a  man 
of  great  energy  and  enthusiasm  combined  with  a  fair 
degree  of  intelligence,  and  thenceforward  for  a  num¬ 
ber  of  years  he  rendered  important  service  to  the  cause 
of  salvation  from  sin. 

During  this  visit  at  Newark  I  made  a  short  excur¬ 
sion  to  Philadelphia  for  the  sake  of  learning  by  per- 

241 


242  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


sonal  inspection  something  about  the  character  of 
T.  R.  Gates,  whose  writings  were  becoming  staple 
commodities  among  the  Perfectionists.  Boyle  had 
just  before  visited  Gates,  and  had  returned  with  a 
favorable  report.  I  introduced  myself  to  him,  and 
was  received  in  friendly  style.  His  wife  was  especially 
cordial  toward  me,  and  related  a  recent  dream  of  hers, 
in  which  she  represented  me  as  figuring  in  a  creditable 
manner.  She  also  insisted  upon  my  receiving  from 
her  a  five-dollar  gold  piece  as  a  present.  During  the 
first  part  of  the  visit  I  sat  patiently  as  a  listener,  while 
Gates  related  to  me  the  strange  things  which  he  had 
been  called  to  do.  Pie  had  been  driven,  he  said,  by 
an  irresistible  divine  impulse  to  enter  the  House  of 
Representatives  at  Washington,  and  denounce  the 
judgment  of  heaven  on  the  national  legislators;  and 
when  he  was  ordered  to  keep  silence,  he  had  told  them 
he  must  “obey  God  rather  than  man/’  and  had  pro¬ 
ceeded  with  his  testimony  till  he  was  carried  out. 
After  his  tales  of  this  kind  were  all  told  I  found  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  enter  upon  the  business  which  I  had  with 
him.  I  suggested  to  him  that  there  were  some  things 
in  his  writings  which  I  did  not  like.  I  mentioned  and 
commented  particularly  on  his  frivolous  and  fanciful 
interpretations,  his  fondness  for  dreams,  visions  and 
other  marvelous  manifestations,  and  his  prophetical 
vagaries.  He  was  uneasy  from  the  first,  and  tried  to 
turn  the  conversation  into  other  channels.  Occasion¬ 
ally  his  eyes  flashed  fire.  While  he  was  gone  out  on 
some  errand  I  observed  to  his  wife  that  possibly  there 
would  be  difficulty  between  him  and  me  and,  3s  in 
that  case  she  would  probably  take  sides  with  him,  I 


DARKNESS  AND  TRIAL 


243 


was  unwilling  to  keep  the  money  which  she  had  given 
me.  But  she  refused  to  take  it  back,  saying  that  she 
entirely  approved  of  the  course  which  I  had  taken 
with  him — that  she  had  suspected  him  of  something 
like  insanity,  and  saw  that  he  needed  correction — that 
I  was  the  only  person  who  had  dealt  plainly  with  him. 
After  this  I  had  further  conversation  with  him  of  the 
same  kind  with  the  same  results.  Again  I  privately 
requested  Mrs.  Gates  to  take  back  the  money,  but  in 
vain.  At  length  in  the  course  of  a  third  conversation 
Gates  broke  all  bounds.  He  said  I  was  profaning 
sacred  things,  and  he  would  hear  such  stuff  no  longer. 
“You  shall  leave  the  house,”  said  he  in  conclusion, 
“or  I  will.”  I  advised  him  to  be  calm,  and  reminded 
him  that  when  he  was  ordered  to  be  still  he  told  the 
people  that  he  must  “obey  God  rather  than  man.” 
“God  sent  me  here,”  said  I,  “to  deliver  this  message 
to  you,  and  I  too  must  obey  God  rather  than  man.  I 
shall  stay  till  I  have  finished.”  He  was  obliged  to 
submit  to  his  own  rule.  I  sat  quietly  until  I  had  fin¬ 
ished,  and  then  took  my  leave.  Mrs.  Gates  lighted  me 
to  the  door,  and  in  the  entry  I  took  occasion  the  third 
time  to  offer  her  the  money,  but  she  said,  “Keep  it, 
keep  it,”  and  motioned  me  away.  So  I  departed. 

On  my  return  from  Philadelphia,  after  spending  a 
few  days  in  Newark  and  New  York,  I  traveled  on 
foot  from  the  latter  place  to  New  Haven.  My  money 
was  exhausted  soon  after  I  commenced  the  journey, 
and  on  the  second  day  a  cold  rain  set  in,  which  made 
the  traveling  bad.  I  was  on  the  road  from  Monday 
morning  till  Wednesday  night,  during  which  time  I 
ate  not  a  morsel  of  food,  and  slept  but  a  few  hours  and 


244 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


that  in  the  open  air.  In  the  course  of  the  first  day  the 
troubles  around  and  before  me  pressed  upon  my  spirit 
so  heavily  that  I  was  very  sorrowful.  After  battling  the 
temptation  to  fretfulness  an  hour  or  two,  I  turned 
aside  from  the  road,  and  went  a  short  distance  across 
a  low  isthmus  to  a  beautiful  spot  on  the  shore  of  a 
headland  projecting  into  the  Sound.  I  stretched  my¬ 
self  on  the  green  sward,  and  resolved  to  stay  there  till 
I  could  go  forward  with  a  peaceful  heart.  The  temp¬ 
tation  receded  before  the  decision  of  spirit  which  I 
now  brought  to  bear  upon  it.  At  length  I  fell  asleep, 
and  rested  quietly  perhaps  an  hour.  I  awoke  not 
merely  in  peace  but  with  positive  gladness  in  my 
heart.  My  spirit  was  in  blessed  harmony  with  the 
warm  sunshine  and  the  tranquil  ocean.  From  that 
time  I  endured  the  hardships  of  the  journey  cheerfully. 

Joanna  to  Her  Father 

New  Haven,  Dec.  i,  1835. 

My  dear  Father: — As  I  am  going  to  write  a  kind 
of  business  letter,  I  believe  I  will  address  it  to  you.  I 
received  a  letter  from  Mother  last  week  authorizing 
me  to  give  John  what  money  he  wanted  for  clothing 
and  to  bear  his  expenses  home.  I  told  him  what 
Mother  had  written,  and  gave  him  ten  dollars  to  buy 
himself  a  hat,  a  pair  of  boots  and  other  small  things. 
I  also  told  him,  if  there  was  a  probability  that  he 
would  remain  here  several  days  longer,  he  had  better 
get  a  coat  made.  He  thought  he  might,  and  went  and 
was  measured  for  one.  Last  night  he  called,  and  told 
me  he  did  not  know  when  he  should  go  home.  He 


J.  H.  NOYES,  ABOUT  1851 


- 


DARKNESS  AND  TRIAL 


245 


found  much  to  do  here,  and  it  seemed  to  be  the  Lord’s 
will  that  he  should  remain  here  for  the  present.  He 
wished  however  to  go  home,  and  was  ready  to  at  any 
time  when  he  could  see  it  was  his  duty,  and  still 
thought  he  should  soon. 

Now  what  troubles  me  and  my  reason  for  writing 
is  to  know,  whether  I  was  to  furnish  him  with  money 
only  upon  condition  that  he  came  home.  Mother  says : 
“If  John  does  not  come  home,  we  know  of  no  way  to 
help  him”;  and  I  have  thought  perhaps  I  had  no  right 
to  give  him  money  expecting  you  would  repay  me,  if 
he  remained  here.  I  told  him  my  scruples  last  night, 
and  that  I  should  not  give  him  any  more  as  coming 
from  you  until  I  had  written  and  inquired,  but  that  I 
would  give  him  twenty  dollars  to  pay  for  his  coat  upon 
my  own  responsibility,  and  you  could  do  as  you 
thought  right  about  paying  me  again.  I  presume  he 
will  go  home  before  long,  but,  as  he  professes  to  be 
governed  in  everything  by  direct  influence  from  God 
and  has  no  will  or  plans  of  his  own,  it  is  of  course 
impossible  to  tell  with  certainty  whether  he  will  or 
not,  or  to  persuade  him  to  do  it  unless  he  sees  it  to 
be  God’s  will.  He  is  doing  nothing  here  but  talking 
with  people  as  he  has  opportunity,  but  he  thinks  he 
is  doing  good  in  that  way.  He  is  not  earning  anything, 
and  has  no  funds  but  what  I  have  furnished. 

Your  affectionate  daughter, 

J.  N.  Hayes. 

Joanna  to  Her  Mother 

New  Haven,  Dec.  io,  1835. 

My  dear  Mother : — I  have  received  your  two  letters, 

It 


246 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


and  sit  down  to  say  a  word  in  answer.  I  suspect  John 
is  not  in  town,  as  I  have  seen  nothing  of  him  for  sev¬ 
eral  days.  I  have  thought  of  sending  to  Dutton,  who 
is  here,  to  inquire  if  he  knew  where  he  was,  but  think 
he  must  have  arrived  home  before  this,  and  I  need  not 
be  at  the  trouble. 

I  am  very  glad  that  there  is  a  prospect  of  his  getting 
a  school  in  Putney,  and  hope  he  will  be  induced  to 
accept  of  the  offer.  It  will  be  pleasanter  for  him  and 
you  all  to  have  him  doing  something  like  that,  I 
should  think,  and  I  see  not  why  he  may  not  be  as  much 
in  the  way  of  his  duty  as  if  otherwise  employed. 

I  should  hesitate  about  showing  him  your  last  let¬ 
ter,  Mother,  because  I  know,  if  you  undertake  to  dic¬ 
tate  to  him  or  try  to  persuade  him  he  is  wrong  in  any¬ 
thing,  you  will  get  into  a  quarrel.  The  only  way  is 
to  let  him  think  as  he  has  a  mind  to,  and  let  him  alone. 
If  he  is  wrong  in  anything,  he  will  get  right  far  sooner 
if  you  take  this  course  than  if  you  attempt  to  reason 
with  him.  He  is  so  much  afraid  of  being  influ¬ 
enced  by  mans  wisdom  and  of  being  under  bondage, 
as  he  calls  it,  that  he  will  not  listen  to  advice  or 
reproof,  especially  from  any  of  his  relatives.  So 
beware ! 

Love  to  all.  Your  affectionate 

J.  N.  Hayes. 

Confession  of  Religions  Experience 

After  remaining  a  few  weeks  at  New  Haven  I 
started  for  Putney  on  the  16th  of  December,  a  day 
made  memorable  to  the  nation  by  the  “great  fire”  in 


& 


DARKNESS  AND  TRIAL 


247 


New  York  City.  Many  will  recollect  that  it  was  one 
of  the  coldest  days  ever  known  in  this  climate.  In 
fact  the  immense  sweep  of  the  fire  was  owing  to  the 
impossibility  of  working  the  fire  engines,  which  froze 
up  in  the  firemen’s  hands.  On  that  day  I  rode  from 
New  Haven  to  Hartford,  a  distance  of  forty  miles, 
in  a  common  stage  coach  with  only  ordinary  clothing. 
The  other  passengers  pitied  me  for  my  lack  of  cloth¬ 
ing  and  expressed  fears  that  I  should  freeze  to  death. 
I  told  them  that  I  should  get  along  well  enough  by  help 
of  a  theory  which  I  had  about  cold  and  heat,  which 
was  this :  Cold  and  fear  produce  the  same  effect  upon 
the  body;  cold  operating  from  without  causes  trem¬ 
bling,  and  fear  operating  from  within  causes  trembling. 
It  is  reasonable  then  to  assume  that  the  opposites  of 
these  two  elements,  heat  and  courage,  are  also  identical 
in  their  effects;  that  as  heat  operating  from  without 
warms  and  comforts  the  body,  so  courage  operating 
from  within  may  warm  and  comfort  the  body.  One 
of  the  passengers  admitted  that  this  was  a  good  the¬ 
ory,  and  that  it  was  available  to  some  extent,  but  he 
did  not  believe  that  it  would  “work  down  into  the  feet” 
on  such  a  day  as  that.  I  assured  him  that  I  had  full 
faith  in  it  and  would  give  it  a  fair  trial.  By  the  bat¬ 
tling  of  my  heart  I  kept  myself  quite  comfortable  most 
of  the  way,  but  at  length  my  feet  began  to  suffer.  At 
this  crisis,  nerved  as  I  was  by  previous  discussion  and 
success,  I  put  forth  a  vehement  action  of  the  will  in 
the  direction  of  the  quarter  assailed,  and  immediately 
felt  a  warm  current  flowing  down  into  my  feet  as  dis¬ 
tinctly  as  if  it  had  been  a  bath  of  warm  water.  I  had 
no  further  serious  distress  from  the  cold,  and  prob- 


248 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


ably  reached  Hartford  with  less  suffering  than  my 
fellow-travelers  with  all  their  protectives. 

I  remained  at  Putney  through  the  winter  of  1835-6. 
Perfectionism  at  that  time  was  in  its  darkest  trial. 
Disorder  and  dissensions  within  and  reproach  from 
without  rendered  its  desolation  complete.  Though  I 
was  separated  from  the  sect,  yet  I  felt  myself  identi¬ 
fied  with  its  testimony,  and  its  desolation  came  upon 
me  like  a  flood.  I  spent  that  winter  chiefly  in  self- 
examination,  and  conflict  with  the  spirit  of  accusation. 
I  was  compelled  to  take  a  minute  measurement  of  my 
own  responsibility  for  the  disastrous  consequences 
which  seemed  to  be  following  the  doctrines,  in  the  pub¬ 
lication  of  which  I  had  been  so  deeply  concerned.  In 
a  substantial  sense  I  stood  before  the  judgment  seat  of 
Christ.  My  works  were  tried  by  fire;  and  although 
the  result  of  the  trial  was  altogether  favorable  to  my 
peace,  my  sufferings  for  several  months  were  severe. 
The  scrutiny  through  which  I  passed,  instead  of  con¬ 
victing  me  of  sin,  purged  and  healed  my  conscience; 
but  it  deepened  my  sense  of  responsibility,  and 
impressed  upon  my  spirit  a  sobriety  and  a  resolution 
to  resist  corruption  among  professed  Perfectionists, 
which  has  since  been  of  great  value  to  me. 


CHAPTER  XXV 


EFFORTS  AT  REHABILITATION 

About  the  first  of  February  1836  Noyes  in  a  letter 
to  Boyle  made  an  earnest  plea  for  a  radical  change  in 
the  policy  of  the  paper.  He  desired  that  more  recog¬ 
nition  should  be  given  to  the  legitimate  sphere  of  the 
intellect  as  a  factor  in  religious  experience,  that  the 
scope  of  the  paper  be  broadened  to  include  other  than 
strictly  theological  topics,  and  that  every  department 
of  human  life  be  subjected  to  the  same  rigid  tests  as 
those  which  had  been  applied  by  Perfectionists  to  tra¬ 
ditional  religion.  Boyle  in  his  reply  expressed  the 
greatest  interest  in  these  proposals,  and  offered  to 
“open  the  entire  columns  of  the  paper”  to  Noyes,  if  he 
would  put  his  thoughts  in  a  form  for  publication.  But 
antinomianism  had  by  this  time  fastened  its  fang  on 
the  paper,  and  in  less  than  six  weeks,  as  we  have  seen, 
it  was  discontinued. 

In  the  same  letter  Boyle  referred  to  the  general  state 
of  Perfectionism  at  this  time  in  the  following  terms : 

“Dear  John: — I  believe  that  the  Lord’s  people  have 
been  in  a  dreadful  hour  of  temptation,  and  I  can  say 
that  I  feel  an  unwonted  sympathy  toward  them  all,  and 
such  love  as  I  have  never  felt  before.  So  do  I  feel 
also  toward  a  blind  church  and  a  blind  world.  I  fully 
believe  that  those  honest  but  credulous  children  among 

249 


250  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

the  saints,  who  have  been  carried  to  and  fro,  will  yet 
all  come  out  right  The  Lord  is  doing  a  strange  work, 
and  bringing  to  pass  his  strange  act,  and  we  may  well 
expect  strange  things.  Hence,  while  I  do  not  approve 
of  many  things  that  are  done,  they  do  not  give  me  any 

uneasiness.  ...  I  received  a  letter  from  S -  in 

Brimfield,  who  says  the  bundling  business  is  going  on 
more  briskly  than  ever.  To  me  this  seems  at  best  but 
small  business.  If  their  aim  is,  as  I  am  told,  to  break 
down  false  modesty,  it  is  hewing  at  the  branches. 
None  of  these  things  nor  any  other  still  more  dark 
move  me.  God  is  at  the  helm.  All  will  end  well. 

“Your  ever  affectionate  brother, 

“James  Boyle.” 

While  Noyes  was  residing  at  home  during  this  win¬ 
ter  and  spring  of  1836,  he  made  strenuous  efforts  to 
detach  his  mother  from  the  religious  preconceptions  in 
which  she  had  been  brought  up,  and  establish  her 
firmly  upon  the  platform  of  salvation  from  sin.  But 
though  she  assented  intellectually  to  most  of  his  doc¬ 
trines,  she  could  not  as  yet  follow  him  with  her  emo¬ 
tions  and  will.  At  last  the  contention  between  them 
became  so  sharp,  that  Noyes  decided  to  leave  home. 

Confession  of  Religions  Experience 

In  the  spring  under  a  strong  spiritual  impulse  I  left 
home  suddenly,  and  traveled  on  foot  to  Albany.  There 
I  called  on  the  Annesleys  and  some  other  religionists, 
but  found  little  to  detain  me,  and  soon  began  to 
inquire  where  I  should  next  direct  my  steps.  As  I 
walked  the  street  ruminating  on  this  question  a  spirit¬ 
ual  voice  said  to  me,  “Go  south.”  Immediately  I  set 
my  face  in  that  direction. 


EFFORTS  AT  REHABILITATION  251 


At  a  few  miles’  distance  from  Albany  a  young  man 
walking  with  a  staff  and  budget,  presenting  an  appear¬ 
ance  half-way  between  that  of  a  vagabond  and  a 
gentleman,  overtook  me.  Having  concluded  to  walk 
together  for  the  day  we  fell  into  various  conversa¬ 
tion.  It  was  not  long  before  my  fellow-traveler,  pre¬ 
suming  me  to  be  as  desperate  an  adventurer  as  himself, 
proposed  to  me  to  join  him  in  robbing  on  the  highway. 
I  replied  that  I  thought  we  could  find  a  better  way  to 
get  a  living.  Soon  afterward  I  introduced  the  subject 
of  religion.  At  first  he  declared  that  he  was  not  afraid 
that  he  should  be  shut  out  of  heaven.  I  said :  “There 
shall  in  no  wise  enter  therein  anything  that  defileth, 
or  worketh  abomination,  or  maketh  a  lie.”  He  went 
on  to  defend  his  position,  but  I  answered  his  argu¬ 
ments,  and  soon  with  deep  anxiety  he  asked  me  to  tell 
him  what  he  should  do  to  be  saved.  In  the  midst  of 
our  conversation  he  exclaimed :  “Now  I  know  the 
meaning  of  the  dream  which  I  had  last  night.  I 
dreamed  that  I  was  standing  in  the  open  air  with  a 
crowd  of  persons  early  in  the  morning,  looking  toward 
the  east.  And  we  saw  a  star  arise,  and  it  became  larger 
and  larger  till  at  last  it  was  a  glorious  sun.  The  peo¬ 
ple  were  in  great  perplexity  and  fear,  asking  one 
another,  ‘What  does  this  mean?’  Then  an  impulse 
seized  me,  and  I  said  loudly  to  the  people :  ‘That  is  the 
sign  of  the  Son  of  man.’  I  understood  not  what  I  was 
saying,  and  when  I  awoke,  I  wondered  what  could 
have  put  these  words  into  my  head,  for  Bible  language 
had  been  altogether  foreign  from  my  thoughts.  The 
dream  made  a  great  impression  upon  me.” 

The  young  man  was  now  completely  subdued  and,  as 


252 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


he  approached  the  crisis  of  heart-surrender,  his  agony 
of  mind  became  overwhelming.  We  sat  down  on  a 
grassy  bank,  and  he  covered  his  face  with  his  hands. 
At  length  he  exclaimed,  “I  see  him!  I  see  him!” 
“Who  is  it  that  you  see?”  I  asked.  “Christ,”  said  he; 
and  he  put  out  his  arms  as  if  to  clasp  some  visible  per¬ 
son.  Meanwhile  his  eyes  were  closed.  Soon  after  this 
he  took  from  his  pocket  a  wallet,  several  pieces  of 
money  and  a  hand  of  tobacco,  and  threw  them  as  far 
as  he  could.  I  asked  with  some  astonishment  what 
he  meant  by  that.  He  replied,  “I  stole  those  last 
night!”  His  plan  was  now  to  find  employment,  that 
he  might  obtain  the  means  of  clothing  himself  de¬ 
cently  and  going  home.  Near  night  we  stopped  at  a 
village  where  he  succeeded  in  letting  himself  to  a 
farmer  for  several  months,  I  gave  him  the  best 
advice  I  could,  especially  enjoining  upon  him  to  pro¬ 
cure  a  Bible.  Then  I  notified  him  that  my  responsi¬ 
bility  for  him  was  at  an  end.  We  parted  with  many 
expressions  of  affection,  and  I  never  saw  him  after¬ 
wards. 

Crossing  the  river  at  Hudson  and  taking  an  easterly 
course  I  arrived  the  next  day  at  Pittsfield,  Massachu¬ 
setts.  Here  I  was  hospitably  received  by  Augustus 
Beach,  a  Baptist  elder,  who  had  taken  the  New  Haven 
paper  and  was  much  interested  in  its  doctrines.  I 
found  him  a  person  of  the  amiable  sort,  reflective  and 
tender-hearted.  We  had  much  profitable  conversation 
during  the  few  days  which  I  passed  at  his  house,  and 
the  kindness  with  which  he  supplied  my  wants  and 
commended  me  to  God  at  parting  will  ever  be  a  pleas¬ 
ant  remembrance  to  me.  He  subsequently  became  a 


EFFORTS  AT  REHABILITATION  253 


convert  to  Miller’s  theory  of  the  second  advent,  and 
wrote  me  several  letters  of  warning  in  relation  to  that 
subject,  which  were  distinguished  more  for  their  good 
spirit  than  their  good  sense. 

From  Pittsfield  I  went  to  Southampton.  There  I 
learned  from  Sardis  Chapman  much  that  was  new  and 
alarming  to  me  about  the  bundling  and  other  strange 
proceedings  of  Perfectionists  at  Brimfield  and 
Southampton.  I  had  been  prepared  by  the  fiery  judg¬ 
ment  through  which  I  had  passed  during  the  preceding 
winter  to  estimate  correctly  the  character  of  those  pro¬ 
ceedings,  and  to  take  my  stand  firmly  against  them 
even  at  the  expense  of  renouncing  fellowship  with 
every  Perfectionist  in  the  world. 

After  a  short  visit  at  Southampton  I  went  to  New 
Haven  and  boarded  several  weeks  at  Abiud  Tuttle’s. 
Dutton  with  his  wife  was  in  the  city.  He  was  just 
then  at  the  turning-point  of  his  career.  Not  long 
before  he  had  been  deeply  involved  in  the  foolish  pro¬ 
ceedings  to  which  allusion  has  been  made,  and  a  reac¬ 
tion  toward  legality  had  probably  commenced.  He  was 
becoming  a  cold  Perfectionist,  and  had  returned  to 
the  occupation  in  which  he  had  been  engaged  before 
he  commenced  studying  for  the  ministry,  that  of  a 
journeyman  printer. 

Boyle  also  was  at  this  time  preparing  to  withdraw 
from  the  business  of  propagating  the  doctrine  of  holi¬ 
ness.  The  prospects  of  the  cause  were  discouraging, 
and  he  was  looking  toward  other  fields.  After  stop¬ 
ping  the  paper  he  had  gone  to  work  in  a  machine  shop 
at  Newark.  He  came  to  New  Haven  however,  while 
I  was  in  that  region,  and  in  conversation  with  him  and 


254 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


Dutton  I  referred  to  the  case  of  the  disciples,  who  in 
despair  of  the  cause  of  their  Master  turned  back  after 
his  death  to  their  old  employment  of  fishing.  I  told 
them  that,  whatever  they  might  do,  I  for  one  would 
not  “go  a-fishing.”  I  felt  that  the  darkest  time  was  not 
the  time  for  me  to  desert  my  post,  and  I  resolved  to 
labor  alone,  if  necessary,  to  repair  the  breaches  of  our 
cause. 

In  this  spirit  I  went  in  the  course  of  the  summer  to 
Prospect  at  the  solicitation  of  the  brethren  there,  and 
labored  among  them  several  weeks,  teaching  “pub¬ 
licly  and  from  house  to  house,”  warning  “every  one 
night  and  day  with  tears.”  I  made  an  earnest  effort 
to  exorcise  the  death-like  spirit  of  antinomianism, 
which  had  fallen  on  believers  there  as  elsewhere,  and  to 
gather  them  into  unity  and  order.  My  heart  was  bur¬ 
dened  with  an  agony  of  desire  that  Christ  might  be 
honored  in  his  saints,  and  that  a  standard  might  be 
lifted  up  against  the  flood  of  iniquity  which  was  com¬ 
ing  in.  The  experiment  was  not  very  successful,  and 
I  went  away  at  length  in  much  sorrow.  But  I  had 
cleared  my  own  soul  of  responsibility,  and  was  not 
disheartened. 

After  this  I  visited  David  Harrison  in  Meriden, 
found  him  in  much  trouble  of  mind  by  reason  of 
bondage  to  his  family  and  the  cares  of  the  world,  and 
after  a  week  or  two  he  proposed  to  go  out  with  me,  not 
knowing  whither,  as  my  practice  had  been  in  many 
cases.  We  went  forth  committing  our  steps  to  the 
Lord,  and  finally  came  to*  New  Haven.  In  the  fall  of 
1835,  when  I  was  almost  destitute  of  friends  and 
money,  I  had  taken  board  and  lodging  at  the  Temper- 


EFFORTS  AT  REHABILITATION  255 


ance  House  in  New  Haven  under  the  persuasion  that  it 
was  the  will  of  God  and  that  he  would  enable  me,  as  he 
had  in  all  cases  before,  to  pay  my  debts.  At  my  de¬ 
parture  my  debts  were  paid  by  the  unasked  liberality 
of  my  sister,  who  was  then  residing  in  New  Haven. 
In  the  spring  of  1836  I  had  again  taken  board  at  the 
same  place,  and  after  remaining  several  weeks  the 
brethren  from  Prospect  paid  my  bill,  and  took  me 
home  with  them.  I  told  Harrison  these  facts,  and  said 
to  him :  “I  believe  it  is  the  will  of  God  that  we  should 
have  a  season  of  undisturbed  communion  with  each 
other.  If  you  will  take  board  with  me  at  the  Tem¬ 
perance  House,  I  will  pay  your  bill.”  Accordingly  we 
remained  there  in  much  outward  contempt  but  in  much 
inward  contentment  somewhat  more  than  six  weeks. 
When  we  had  been  there  four  weeks  James  Boyle 
proposed  to  me  to  go  with  him  to  Newark,  and  A.  C. 
Smith  offered  to  pay  our  board.  Being  alone  with 
Harrison  I  said  to  him:  “Here  is  a  fair  offer  of  de¬ 
liverance  from  our  debt.  But  we  have  many  things  yet 
to  say.  I  will  not  leave  this  place  till  God  clearly  mani¬ 
fests  his  will.”  Harrison  assented,  and  Boyle  and 
Smith  left  us.  We  remained  two  weeks  more,  waiting 
on  the  Lord  in  full  confidence  as  before.  As  the  end  of 
that  time  drew  near,  we  perceived  that  the  object  of 
our  session  was  accomplished.  A  few  days  before  we 
left,  Mr.  Tuttle,  the  landlord,  mentioned  to  me  that  he 
was  in  want  of  money.  I  told  him  I  would  take  meas¬ 
ures  to  pay  our  board  immediately.  I  took  the  prom¬ 
ised  measures  by  laying  our  case  before  God.  On  the 
third  morning  from  this  time  I  went  out  with  a  deter¬ 
mination  never  to  come  back  without  the  needed 


256 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


money.  As  I  walked  across  the  green  it  occurred  to 
me  that  I  had  several  years  before  borrowed  fifty  dol¬ 
lars  of  Thomas  Trowbridge,  a  merchant  in  the  city 
and  a  distant  relative  of  mine.  Directly  I  determined 
to  walk  down  upon  the  wharf,  saying  within  myself : 
“If  the  Lord  throws  him  in  my  way,  I  will  make 
known  to  him  my  wants.”  At  the  end  of  the  wharf 
I  met  him  returning  towards  the  city.  I  turned  and 
walked  with  him.  Our  conversation  fell  upon  some 
information  which  he  had  received  from  my  brother, 
who  was  engineering  on  Staten  Island.  He  said  that 
there  was  a  good  demand  for  labor  there.  I  then 
told  him  my  situation,  and  said  to  him :  “Now  if  you 
are  willing  to  take  my  debt  upon  you,  I  will  go  to 
Staten  Island  and,  if  possible,  engage  in  business  with 
my  brother,  and  pay  you  as  soon  as  I  can  raise  the 
money.  Only  mind  one  thing:  I  have  nothing  to  do 
with  my  father,  and  you  must  not  look  to  him  for  your 
pay.”  He  readily  loaned  me  fifty  dollars,  and  I  gave 
him  my  note.  Not  long  afterward  I  learned  that  he 
had  sent  notice  of  the  debt  to  my  father  directly  after 
it  was  contracted,  and  the  fifty  dollars  were  refunded 
within  a  few  days.  Some  said,  I  ought  to  pay  my 
father.  I  said,  No.  If  I  must  have  the  name  of  being 
a  minor  or  a  knave,  I  will  have  the  game. 

In  September  I  went  to  Newark  and  remained  some 
days  at  the  home  of  A.  C.  Smith,  with  whom  Boyle  was 
then  living.  While  I  was  there  an  amusing  incident 
occurred.  Certain  Methodists,  professedly  of  the  more 
liberal  sort,  were  in  the  habit  of  meeting  weekly  at  the 
house  of  a  Mr.  Gould.  Their  meetings  were  called 
“free,”  and  it  was  understood  that  believers  of  every 


EFFORTS  AT  REHABILITATION  257 


name  were  at  liberty  to  speak  in  them.  Several  of  the 
Perfectionists,  including  Boyle  and  myself,  attended 
one  evening,  and  in  the  course  of  the  exercises  I  arose 
and  offered  my  testimony.  My  name  and  profession 
were  unknown  to  the  audience.  I  conformed  as  well  as 
I  could  to  the  manners  of  the  Methodists,  but  the  matter 
of  my  discourse  was  strongly  tinctured  with  the  here¬ 
sies  of  Perfectionism.  As  I  proceeded  the  people  grew 
warm  in  their  approbation.  “Amen,”  “Glory,”  “Hal¬ 
lelujah,”  “Bless  God”  resounded  from  all  parts  of  the 
house.  At  length  one  man  more  excitable  than  the  rest 
arose  and  walked  back  and  forth  before  the  audience, 
shouting  and  clapping  his  hands  and  leaping  for  joy. 
But  during  the  following  week  the  question,  “Who  is 
that  young  man  ?”  passed  around,  and  the  answer  was, 
“It  is  crazy  John  Noyes,  the  Perfectionist.”  This  was 
a  damper!  At  the  next  meeting  one  of  the  leading 
patrons  remarked  in  a  bland  but  significant  way,  that 
the  meetings  were  called  free — and  they  were  free — 
free  for  all  to  testify — that  is,  all  who  would  keep  with¬ 
in  the  limits  of  Methodist  doctrine!  Every  one  knew 
that  this  was  to  fence  me  out.  But  before  the  meeting 
closed  I  arose,  and  spoke  at  some  length  on  topics 
which  I  knew  belonged  to  Wesley’s  theology.  So  far 
as  my  speech  alone  was  concerned  there  was  as  much 
to  call  forth  approving  Amens  as  in  the  previous  one. 
But  it  was  received  in  blank  silence. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 


PERFECTIONISM  IN  PUTNEY  AND  VICINITY,  JULY  1 835 

TO  NOVEMBER  1 836 

Lydia  C.  Campbell  to  Harriet  A.  Holton 

Putney,  July  20,  1835. 

My  dear  Sister  — Although  years  have  passed  away 
since  I  saw  your  face,  yet  hearing  you  have  obtained 
the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ  I  address  you  by  the  endearing 
appellation  of  sister,  for  we  are  one  in  Christ.  .  .  . 
Oh,  what  a  glorious,  blessed  privilege!  The  spirit  of 
life  in  Jesus  Christ  hath  made  me  free  from  the  law  of 
sin  and  death.  ...  I  am  happy.  I  have  no  anxiety, 
no  care.  I  know  the  Lord  is  able  to  keep  what  I  have 
committed  unto  him,  and  will  keep  it,  even  my  all. 

The  Lord  has  brought  some  in  this  place  to  confess 
Christ  a  whole  Savior  from  sin  and  death,  and  I  trust 
he  will  bring  more  into  the  liberty  of  the  gospel.  .  .  . 
I  believe  Brother  J.  H.  Noyes  is  waxing  strong,  and 
testifying  the  truth  with  great  power.  His  mother  and 
sisters  are  rejoicing  in  the  truth,  though  they  have  not 
confessed  Christ.  I  think  they  will  soon  get  the  vic¬ 
tory. 

Maria  Clark  to  Harriet  A.  Holton ,  October  25,  1835 

I  find  by  your  letter  you  have  been  feeling  the  same 
ardent  desire  to  increase  in  knowledge  that  I  have  the 

258 


PERFECTIONISM  IN  PUTNEY 


259 


past  few  days.  I  know  that  knowledge  without  charity 
puffeth  up ;  but  I  would  only  have  the  one  keep  pace 
with  the  other.  My  desires  have  been  more  ardent 
than  ever  not  only  to  increase  in  the  knowledge  of 
God's  written  word  but  in  all  other  that  is  useful. 

Mary  Clark  to  Harriet  A.  Holton 

Westminster,  March  io,  1836. 

My  dear  Sister : — I  received  your  kind  letter,  and 
I  need  not  tell  you  the  joy  and  comfort  which  it  gave 
me.  It  is  so  refreshing  to  hear  from  one  who  does 
with  the  whole  heart  trust  the  Lord  our  God. 

I  have  been  to  Putney  the  past  week.  I  found  the 
excitement  against  the  doctrine  of  perfection  to  be 
much  stronger  than  I  have  ever  before  known  it.  What 
it  will  amount  to,  I  know  not.  but  God  will  overrule  it 
all  for  good.  .  .  . 

I  think  much  of  the  promise,  “Whosoever  drinketh 
of  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him,  shall  never  thirst.’" 
I  cannot  say  that  I  do  not  at  times  thirst  for  more  of 
the  presence  of  the  living  God,  and  there  are  times 
when  I  feel  as  if  I  were  filled  with  his  presence.  Is 
this  owing  to  my  want  of  faith?  I  have  no  doubt  at 
any  time  of  my  acceptance  with  him.  I  know  and  feel 
assured,  that  my  sins  are  pardoned  and  that  I  am  jus¬ 
tified  by  his  grace.  Yet  I  do  not  think  that  I  have  felt 
that  eternal  security  that  some  have;  still  I  do  not 
doubt  it.  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  be  constantly  pressing 
forward  and  ever  on  my  guard  against  the  snares  of 
the  adversary  of  souls.  Perhaps  you  will  say,  You 
have  no  interest  in  the  new  covenant.  I  see  much 
beauty  in  it,  and  feel  that  it  is  the  only  way  we  can 


260 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


come  to  a  knowledge  of  the  Saviour ;  but  I  often  feel 
that  perhaps  I  have  not  sold  all  for  the  pearl  of  great 
price.  God  knoweth  my  heart,  that,  if  I  have  not,  it 
is  my  desire  to  do  so. 

Yours  in  the  bonds  of  love, 

Mary  Clark. 

Mrs.  Polly  Noyes  to  Mrs.  Tirzah  Crawford 

Putney,  March  27,  1836. 

Dear  Mrs.  Crawford : — Having  lately  had  conver¬ 
sation  with  you  on  subjects  in  which  we  have  a  mutual 
interest  I  feel  an  inclination  to  put  pen  to  paper  and 
send  you  some  of  my  thoughts  since  I  saw  you. 

Saturday  after  a  very  busy  forenoon  I  went  to  my 
chamber,  thinking  to  spend  the  remainder  of  the  day 
much  alone,  and  determined  to  improve  the  opportu¬ 
nity  in  attention  to  the  subject  of  religion  generally. 

Though  I  had  pretty  much  made  up  my  mind  that  I 
would  attend  meeting  and  again  unite  in  the  ordinances 
of  religion,  I  had  concluded  to  wait  some  longer  before 
I  wholly  decided.  I  have  ever  felt  that  outward  ob¬ 
servances  of  the  church  are  of  little  value  while  the 
heart  is  not  right,  and  I  endeavored  to  divest  myself 
of  everything  except  communion  with  my  own  heart. 
...  I  found  what  fully  settled  my  mind  with  regard 
to  the  church  for  the  present.  .  .  .  Let  us  go  forth 
and  suffer  with  Christ  without  the  gate,  although  it 
is  a  reproach  and  may  expose  11s  to  a  great  deal  more 
than  we  have  any  idea  of.  If  we  suffer  with  him,  we 
shall  also  reign  with  him.  .  .  . 

You**  affectionate  friend, 


P.  Noyes. 


PERFECTIONISM  IN  PUTNEY 


261 


Mrs.  Tirzah  Crawford  to  Mrs .  Polly  Noyes 

Putney,  April  2,  1836. 

I  thank  you,  Mrs.  Noyes,  for  your  views  expressed 
to  me  in  your  communication  this  week.  ...  I  think 
your  interpretation  clearly  scriptural.  But  what  an 
enlarged  and  sublime  view  of  the  gospel  does  this  pre¬ 
sent!  How  infinitely  beyond  anything  we  have  ever 
received  from  former  teaching!  To  see  everything 
necessary  to  restore  us  to  the  purity  of  our  first  par¬ 
ents  accomplished  in  Christ ,  and  to  know  that  all  we 
have  to  do  to  receive  the  benefit  is  to  heartily  believe 
this! 

Now  how  far  are  we  accountable  for  not  believing? 
Can  we  believe  unto  salvation,  until  we  feel  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  some  degree  showing  us  clearly, 
this  is  the  truth ?  ...  It  seems  to  me  sometimes  that 
I  see  so  clearly  the  fullness  there  is  in  Christ,  I  would 
fain  exercise  the  right  kind  of  faith,  if  I  only  had  the 
ability,  but  there  is  something  so  impenetrably  hard 
within,  that  with  all  my  reasonings  and  imaginary 
desires  it  still  maintains  firmly  its  post.  Must  we  not 
feel  that  God  only  can  subdue  the  heart,  and  that  we 
must  be  as  entirely  helpless  and  dependent  upon  him 
and  as  free  from  all  judgments  and  opinions  of  our 
own  as  an  infant  in  the  hands  of  its  mother?  Miss 
Clark  told  me  that,  although  she  intellectually  saw  that 
Christ  came  the  second  time  at  the  destruction  of  Jeru¬ 
salem,  yet  she  had  to  be  taught  this  again  by  God 
himself ;  and  that  there  was  nothing,  which  she  before 
thought  she  firmly  believed,  but  what  she  had  been 
compelled  to  receive  again  in  the  same  way. 

I  infer,  Mrs.  Noyes,  from  what  you  say  relative 


262 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


to  attending  meeting,  that  your  views  are  something 
as  mine  have  been  ever  since  I  have  seen  this  “new 
and  living  way,”  whereby  we  may  obtain  access  to  God. 
I  feel  that  we  ought  not  in  the  most  indirect  manner 
uphold  any  system  our  consciences  do  not  approve,  and 
I  believe  that  “the  Most  Eligh  dwelleth  not  in  temples 
made  with  hands”  but  in  true  believers.  I  believe  too 
that  the  endeavor  to  win  those  who  differ  from  us  by 
conforming  to  their  ritual  would  only  tend  to  stir 
them  up  to  persecute  us  with  something  of  the  same 
spirit  the  Jews  of  Asia  did  Paul,  when  he  was  con¬ 
forming  to  some  of  their  Jewish  customs.  Putt  I  say 
also,  “Let  every  one  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own 
mind,  that  whatever  we  do  we  may  do  heartily ,  as 
unto  the  Lord  and  not  unto  man.” 

Mrs.  Noyes,  whenever  you  have  any  new  or  striking 
views  which  concern  us  mutually,  I  shall  esteem  it 
quite  a  favor  to  receive  the  communication  of  them. 
•  •  • 

Since  I  wrote  the  foregoing  I  have  been  told  that 
John  has  returned.  Is  it  true?  If  so,  may  I  be  per¬ 
mitted  to  know  the  reasons  he  gives?  I  always  feel 
that  what  concerns  John  is  not  to  be  confined  exclu¬ 
sively  to  the  family  of  Esq.  Noyes,  but  that  all  his 
brothers  and  sisters,  of  whom  he  has  a  vast  number, 
are  interested. 

Mrs.  Polly  Noyes  to  Mrs.  TirzaJi  Crawford 

Locust  Grove,  April  3,  1836. 

Dear  Mrs.  Crawford : — All  I  can  say  of  John  is,  he 
has  come  home  once  more  to  entreat  us  to  receive  the 
Savior  and  be  reconciled  to  God,  and  I  am  brought 


PERFECTIONISM  IN  PUTNEY 


263 


under  fearful  apprehension  that  an  awful  crisis  is  at 
hand.  I  have  had  a  great  deal  of  conversation  with 
him.  I  never  thought  him  more  spiritual  or  more  con¬ 
sistent  than  he  is  now.  I  see  the  immense  distance 
there  is  between  the  children  of  God  and  the  children 
of  this  world.  What  we  want  is  the  baptism  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  This  it  must  be  the  prerogative  of  God 
to  give.  For  this  we  can  look  and  wait,  and  such  faith 
as  we  have  alone  can  keep  us  from  despair.  I  cannot 
instruct  others,  while  I  am  blind  myself,  but  I  adopt 
this  as  my  best  support:  believe ,  believe,  believe. 

I  went  this  morning  with  John  over  to  Mr.  Palmer's. 
We  had  a  very  pleasant  interview.  Their  spirits  are 
surely  heavenly.  John  chose  to  remain  there.  He 
continues  to  unfold  much  truth,  and  to  me  vastly  im¬ 
portant,  while  at  the  same  time  he  says  things  that 
make  me  think  the  struggle  between  flesh  and  spirit  is 
carried  to  an  extreme,  and  preys  upon  him.  It  is  a 
trial  for  me,  from  which  may  God  in  his  good  time 
deliver  me.  .  .  . 

Your  affectionate  friend, 

P.  Noyes. 

Mrs.  Tirzah  Crawford  to  Mrs.  Polly  Noyes 

Putney,  April  5,  1836. 

Dear  Mrs.  Noyes : — Thank  you  for  the  contents  of 
your  last  communication.  .  .  .  My  anxieties  and 

searchings  are  to  this  point  at  present,  that  Christ  is 
in  every  human  being,  and  that  all  previous  to  putting 
off  the  old  man  are  possessed  of  two  natures,  an  old 
one  and  a  new  one.  All  the  testimony  I  can  find  seems 
to  decide  the  case  affirmatively;  still,  it  appears  too 


264 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


much  to  believe !  I  see  a  great  change  will  be  wrought 
in  one  who  heartily  receives  this  as  truth,  and  I  intend 
not  to  let  it  rest  until  I  am  decided.  I  should  like  to 
hear  John  speak  on  this,  as  he  has  on  other  subjects, 
at  our  discussion  meetings.  He  would  doubtless  bring 
forth  much  more  proof  from  the  Bible  than  my  limited 
researches  have  enabled  me  to  do.  Can  we  not  have 
more  of  these  social  meetings?  Not  having  the  well 
of  water  within  me,  which  springs  up  spontaneously, 
or  not  believing  I  have  it,  I  find  I  am  continually 
thirsting  for  the  well  of  Jacob,  that  is,  to  feel  that 
stimulus  to  desire  which  John’s  speaking  or  the  paper 
creates.  I  know  in  this  way  our  meetings  have  done 
me  good,  as  well  as  having  been  the  means  of  greatly 
increasing  my  knowledge. 

It  seems  to  me  John  has  not  come  back  for  nought, 
but  in  some  way  to  do  good.  It  does  not  remind  me 
of  Matthew’s  predictions  to  hear  that  John  warns  you 
of  an  approaching  crisis.  No,  it  reminds  me  more  of 
the  warnings  and  denunciations  of  the  prophets  of  old, 
and  also  of  the  warnings  and  cautions  of  the  apostles 
during  the  transition  period. 

I  wish,  Mrs.  Noyes,  if  it  would  not  be  too  much 
trouble  for  you,  you  would  occasionally  write  me  John’s 
ideas  of  things  and  subjects,  which  strike  you  as  new 
and  important.  In  this  way  you  will  greatly  oblige  me. 

Mrs.  Polly  Noyes  to  Mrs.  Crawford 

Putney,  April  7,  1836. 

Dear  Mrs.  Crawford: — I  went  over  to  see  John 
yesterday.  He  appeared  glad  as  usual  to  see  me;  said 
he  was  contented,  and  all  appeared  pleased  and  happy 


PERFECTIONISM  IN  PUTNEY 


265 


— more  however  than  ever  determined  to  crucify  not 
only  the  lusts  but  affections.  Thought  he  should  not 
remain  there  long.  What  is  before  us,  I  know  not. 
Mr.  Palmer  among  other  things  said  he  considered  it 
providential  that  John  came  there,  as  he  had  been 
taught  by  him  many  things  which  were  of  great  use 
to  him.  Mrs.  Palmer  said  that  a  year  ago  their  home 
might  be  said  to  be  where  Satan’s  seat  was ;  now  it  was 
the  retired  abode  of  a  son  of  God.  With  other  ques¬ 
tions  I  asked  her  if  she  always  had  that  witness  within, 
that  she  needed  no  more  assurance.  She  said  for  the 
week  past  she  had  not  had  so  clear  a  witness  as  she 
had  had;  whether  it  was  John’s  advanced  faith  or  not, 
she  did  not  know.  For  my  part  I  don’t  know  what  to 
think.  They  united,  however,  to  strip  me  of  every 
source  of  comfort.  John  said,  “Abandon  everything 
but  Christ.”  But  he  hides  himself.  Friends,  children, 
Bible,  prayer  are  all  to  me  like  senseless  idols  as  to  any 
real  comfort,  and  even  the  God  I  have  so  long  wor¬ 
shipped  I  am  ready  to  say,  ’tis  to  me  as  an  adversary, 
or  that  I  do  not  know  the  true  God. 

You  will  not  wonder  that  I  say  to  all,  take  care  of 
yourselves ,  no  help  can  come  from  me.  Is  not  this  a 
day  of  burning?  Shall  we  ever  know  peace?  Shall 
we  find  any  till  God  is  pleased  to  reveal  his  Son  in  us? 

Your  affectionate  friend, 

P.  Noyes. 

Mr$.  Crawford  to  Mrs.  Polly  Noyes 

Putney,  About  May  5,  1836. 

Dear  Mrs.  Noyes: — Mr.  Palmer  spoke  of  John’s 
visit  at  his  house  as  being  a  great  blessing  to  him.  He 


266 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


says  he  has  obtained  that  knowledge  of  him,  which  he 
could  not  do  by  hearing  him  preach,  and  that  he  cannot 
now  say,  as  Peter  did  of  Christ,  “I  know  not  the  man” ; 
but  he  is  willing  to  confess  that  he  does  know  him 
notwithstanding  his  low  repute,  and  he  feels  that  he  is 
no  common  person.  I  do  believe  we  do  not  realize 
what  a  blessing  we  enjoy  in  having  John  in  our  midst. 
Oh,  that  his  mouth  could  be  opened  to  proclaim  the 
gospel  with  the  power  that  none  could  resist  it! 

The  stupidity  that  rests  on  my  mind — or  heart  I 
might  more  properly  say,  for  I  think  much  but  feel 
little— is  great  indeed!  Compared  with  last  spring  I 
find  I  am  greatly  behind.  Then  I  enjoyed  all,  I  be¬ 
lieved,  and  I  had  a  peace  in  believing  intellectually, 
that  I  never  felt  before  or  since.  I  fear  that  this  is  the 
experience  of  many  besides  myself.  One  thing  I  do 
know,  there  is  no  peace  to  the  wicked,  nor  to  one  who 
feels  he  commits  sin. 

With  much  respect, 

T.  M.  Crawford. 

Mrs.  Polly  Noyes  to  Mrs.  Crawford 

Putney,  May  16,  1836. 

Dear  Mrs.  Crawford: — We  had  a  letter  yesterday 
from  John  in  New  Haven.  It  is  much  in  his  usual 
style:  will  remain  there  a  while,  trusting  quietly  that 
his  wants  will  be  all  supplied.  What  we  shall  hear 
next,  I  know  not,  but  I  am  sure  I  shall  be  prepared 
for  it,  whatever  it  may  be.  I  am  now  waiting  on  the 
Lord,  that  I  may  know  what  to  say  to  him ;  and  may 
He  show  me  where  is  the  door  of  hope! 

If  I  can  only  begin  a  letter  to  Mrs.  W.,  perhaps 


PERFECTIONISM  IN  PUTNEY 


267 


yourself  and  Mrs.  C.  will  add  to  it.  I  do  not  feel 
like  sending  any  more  of  John’s  letters  out. 

Your  friend, 

P.  Noyes. 

Mrp.  Crawford  to  Mrs.  Polly  Noyes 

Putney,  May  17,  1836. 

Dear  Mrs.  Noyes : — What  I  said  respecting  your 
writing  Abby  I  did  not  say  reproachfully,  but  only  to 
remind  you  and  Harriet,  that  you  encouraged  her, 
when  she  left,  to  expect  a  letter  sometime.  Anything 
you  could  write  relative  to  the  truth  would  be  very 
welcome.  If  you  do  not  choose  to  say  anything  of 
John,  you  need  not,  for  a  letter  I  sent  her  not  long 
since  was  nearly  filled  with  his  sayings  and  doings. 
Among  other  things  I  told  her  he  had  during  the  past 
season  conducted  himself  so  contrary  to  what  the  wis¬ 
dom  of  this  world  would  dictate,  that  some  thought 
him  a  monomaniac.  But  Abby  will  not  think  so  from 
remarks  which  I  repeated  to  her:  “A  prophet  is  not 
without  honor  save  in  his  own  country,  and  among  his 
own  kindred .” 

It  appears  to  me,  Mrs.  Noyes,  from  the  manner  in 
which  you  speak  of  John  of  late,  that  your  mind  is 
operated  upon  by  two  influences,  one  that  is  favorable 
to  John  and  one  that  is  not.  I  now  speak  relative  to 
his  being  a  son  of  God.  If  Jesus  Christ  has  ever  come 
in  the  flesh  of  his  saints,  I  believe  he  is  in  John,  and 
whatever  appears  strange  to  us,  who  only  see  through 
a  glass  darkly,  may  be  accounted  for  on  the  supposi¬ 
tion  that  he  is  not  of  this  world.  Had  you  not  written 


268 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


what  you  did  at  the  close  of  your  note,  I  should  have 
begged  the  favor  of  reading  John’s  letter.  If  he  writes 
“as  usual  ”  he  writes  well.  Mrs.  Noyes,  I  hope  God 
will  enable  you  to  feel  confidently  that  he  is  the  Lord’s, 
and  that  He  supplies  all  his  wants.  How  can  any  one 
doubt  John’s  being  right,  when  they  consider  that  he 
has  literally  as  well  as  heartily  obeyed  Christ’s  injunc¬ 
tion  to  forsake  all  for  him.  I  wish  I  had  such  evi¬ 
dence  of  the  piety  of  a  single  other  individual  that  I 
have  of  his.  And  the  vast  amount  of  truth,  which  God 
has  taught  him  and  which  we  have  heard,  is  another 
convincing  proof  of  his  genuineness. 

I  like  your  views,  so  far  as  you  expressed  them,  on 
the  passage  you  gave  us  for  consideration.  I  think 
we  must  begin  to  feed  on  something  more  substantial 
than  bread  alone,  “even  upon  every  word  that  proceed- 
eth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God.”  I  know  for  myself  that 
I  do  not  enough  hunger  for  this  food.  When  we  do 
really  hunger  and  thirst  for  righteousness  as  for  our 
bodily  sustenance,  “we  shall  be  filled.” 

I  often  think  of  Mrs.  Carrington’s  prayer,  “Lord, 
teach  me,  teach  me,”  and  wish  to  adopt  it  as  the  lan¬ 
guage  of  my  heart.  I  feel  that  we  ought  to  glorify 
God  by  acknowledging  what  he  has  done  in  others  in 
conforming  them  to  his  own  image,  but  we  ought  not 
to  depend  on  their  teaching  or  assistance  as  though 
they  possessed  inherent  power  and  goodness,  but  go 
ourselves  to  the  fountain-head,  that  we  may  drink  of 
the  unadulterated  spring. 

I  hope,  Mrs.  Noyes,  you  will  feel  disposed  to  go  to 
the  East  Part  of  the  town  on  Thursday,  if  we  go.  I 
think  if  you  feel  able,  you  will  be  much  refreshed  by 


PERFECTIONISM  IN  PUTNEY 


269 


meeting  the  good  sisters  there.  I  think  some  of  them 
are  in  advance  of  us. 

Yours, 

T.  Crawford. 

Mrs .  Polly  Noyes  to  Harriet  A.  Holton 

Putney,  May  30,  1836. 

Dear  Miss  Holton: — Though  I  have  never  had  the 
happiness  of  meeting  you,  you  will  allow  me  to  intro¬ 
duce  myself  in  this  way  as  in  some  sense  an  acquaint¬ 
ance  through  the  correspondence  of  yourself  and 
friends  in  this  place.  Though  I  cannot  speak  in  your 
language,  I  am  interested,  and  hope  I  truly  rejoice  in 
the  testimony  you  are  enabled  to  give  to  the  truth  of  the 
gospel. 

Harriet  Noyes  to  Charlotte  Noyes 

Putney,  Sept.  15,  1836. 

Dear  Charlotte : — Miss  Harriet  Holton  has  been 
to  New  Haven,  but  she  found  Dutton  gone,  and  heard 
nothing  from  John,  though  to  see  or  hear  from  them 
was  her  principal  object.  She  and  Miss  Clark  are  very 
much  advanced. 

Mrs .  Lydia  Campbell  to  Harriet  A.  Holton 

Putney,  October  1836. 

My  dear  Miss  Holton : — The  Lord  is  doing  won¬ 
ders  in  the  East  Part  of  this  town.  There  are  many 
who  are  anxiously  examining  the  truth,  and  some  who 
are  rejoicing  in  God  their  Savior.  Mr.  Palmer,  who 
has  been  one  of  the  bitterest  opposers  of  the  doctrine 


270 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


of  holiness,  now  confesses  Christ  a  whole  Savior  from 
sin,  and  is  rejoicing  in  the  truth.  .  .  . 

Professors  of  religion  generally  in  this  part  of  the 
town  are  more  opposed  to  the  doctrine  of  perfection 
than  they  were,  since  the  attention  of  the  people  at  the 
East  Part  has  been  called  to  the  subject.  My  sister 
Tirzah  does  not  yet  confess  Christ,  though  she  appears 
more  and  more  engaged  upon  the  subject.  This  is  the 
case  with  many  here.  Mrs.  Noyes,  I  believe,  has 
ceased  from  her  own  works,  and  feels  that  she  can 
trust  Christ.  Harriet  and  Charlotte,  I  fear,  are  not 
advancing  at  all.  I  have  seen  Mrs.  Shaw  several  times. 
She  is  a  shining  light.  She  feels  that  she  has  entered 
the  kingdom  to  go  no  more  out  forever. 

Yours  in  love, 

L.  Campbell. 

Harriet  A .  Holton  to  Mrs .  Tirzah  Crazvford 

Westminster,  Nov.  7,  1836. 

Dear  Mrs.  Crawford : — lister  Maria  visibly  ad¬ 
vances  in  the  divine  life,  or  rather  sees  and  feels  more 
clearly  the  fullness  of  God.  The  Lord  verifies  his 
promise  in  her,  “They  that  wait  upon  the  Lord  shall 
renew  their  strength ;  they  shall  mount  up  with  wings 
as  eagles.”  We  have  taken  sweet  counsel  together. 
.  .  .  We  rejoice  in  hearing  of  the  advance  of  our 
brethren  and  sisters  in  Putney:  that  Sister  Lydia  is 
carried  above  what  in  the  flesh  would  be  called  afflic¬ 
tion.  She  can  surely  say  with  another,  “Gold  grows 
brighter  by  rubbing.”  We  can  join  Sister  Shaw  in 
her  testimony,  that  the  way  to  stand  fast  in  our  liberty 
is  to  go  forth  in  the  strength  and  name  of  Christ, 


PERFECTIONISM  IN  PUTNEY 


271 


declare  and  make  use  of  our  liberty.  ‘‘Reckon  your¬ 
self  indeed  dead  unto  sin,  and  alive  unto  God.” 

We  wish  to  hear  from  you.  Love  to  the  saints. 
Love  to  all  the  world  from 


H.  A.  Holton. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 


GLIMPSES  OF  THE  NOYES  FAMILY 
JANUARY  1835  TO  NOVEMBER  1 836 

Charlotte  to  Horatio,  Jan.  25,  1835 

We  have  received  the  fifth  number  of  The  Perfec¬ 
tionist.  I  have  read  it  through.  It  is  rather  too  deep 
for  me — some  pieces,  I  mean.  How  I  wish  John 
Would  come  home!  Why  doesn’t  he?  For  my  part 
I  think  he  ought  to  come  and  preach  to  us.  There  are 
Mr.  Boyle  and  Dutton  and  Chapman  about  there,  and 
we  have  none  here.  I  wish,  when  you  write,  you  would 
tell  us  where  John  is,  what  he  is  doing,  what  he  says, 
and  everything  else  about  him;  for  how  can  we  help 
wishing  to  know? 

I  cannot  tell  you  what  I  think  about  perfection,  for 
I  am  so  unsettled  that  I  do  not  know  what  to  believe. 
Only  I  know  this,  I  do  not  believe  in  the  old  way. 
Don’t  you  think  I  am  in  a  bad  state  ? 

Mrs.  Polly  Noyes  to  J.  H.  Noyes,  Jan.  25,  1835 

The  two  long  articles  in  the  December  number  of 
The  Perfectionist  I  thought  contained  sound  argu¬ 
ment  and  threw  a  great  deal  of  light  on  these  subjects ; 
and  I  think  truth  may  be  gathered  from  the  paper  gen¬ 
erally.  The  last  number  was  quite  interesting.  .  .  . 

272 


GLIMPSES  OF  NOYES  FAMILY 


273 


Your  father  reads  it  with  great  interest  and  apparent 
satisfaction,  though  I  have  no  reason  to  believe  that 
his  heart  is  touched.  He  talks  like  one  who  thinks  on 
the  subject.  .  .  . 

Mr.  Mead  says  your  doctrine  of  faith,  which  leads 
us  to  see  that  we  cannot  serve  God  and  Mammon,  he 
thinks  must  do  good,  and  that  you  give  in  some  of 
your  late  letters  the  best  exemplification  of  faith  that 
he  has  met  with  in  modern  times. 

L.  G.  Mead  to  J.  H.  Noyes ,  Jan.  25,  1835 

Mary  sends  her  love  to  you.  She  takes  a  great  inter¬ 
est  in  your  paper  :  says  she  never  liked  to  read  any 
paper  half  as  well.  Several  of  our  Chesterfield  people 
read  it,  and  I  think  you  will  have  a  respectable  list  of 
subscribers  here  by  and  by.  I  have  so  many  heresies 
of  my  own  to  answer  for,  I  dare  not  be  very  active  in 
propagating  yours.  I  find,  however,  several  are  begin¬ 
ning  to  be  inquisitive  upon  the  subject. 

Harriet  to  Joanna,  Feb.  25,  1835 

Tell  John  we  do  want  he  should  come  home,  not 
because  we  are  anxious  about  him,  but  because  we  love 
him,  and  want  to  see  him.  Do  make  him  come,  if  it 
is  consistent  with  his  avocations.  .  .  . 

Have  you  become  a  Perfectionist  yet?  I  think  Mary 
has  really  got  the  faith. 

Joanna  to  the  Family  at  Putney 

New  Haven,  April  28,  1835. 

Dear  Friends: — .  .  .  I  am  very  happy  here;  far 


274 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


more  so  than  I  anticipated,  when  I  left  home.  My 
opportunity  for  improvement  is  as  great  as  it  could 
be  in  any  situation.  And  Mother,  do  not  think  that  I 
shall  forget  the  one  thing  needful.  I  could  not  well 
here,  for  religion  is  the  theme  that  interests  this  family 
more  than  anything  else  at  present.  Of  seven  students 
boarding  here  six  have  become  pious  since  I  came. 
There  is  a  great  change  in  them.  The  death  of  Mrs. 
Herbert  led  them  to  reflect.  They  were  before  very 
gay.  They  are  now  so  humble,  so  engaged.  One  lady 
boarding  here  is  precisely  like  Abby  Fitch — just  so 
pious  and  always  doing  good.  She  is  a  tract  distribu¬ 
tor,  and  has  given  me  an  invitation  to  accompany  her 
on  an  excursion  of  this  kind  this  afternoon.  I  feel 
very  much  interested  in  her. 

The  revival  in  College  is  very  powerful,  but  the  city 
does  not  share  in  the  blessing.  Mr.  Foot's  meeting 
had  little  effect. 

Horatio  has  just  been  in  to  tell  me  he  has  an  appoint¬ 
ment.  It  will  be  gratifying  to  Papa.  I  should  think 
he  stood  high  as  to  scholarship.  He  is  quite  animated 
with  the  idea  of  going  home — thinks  he  will  have  a 
fine  visit  with  John  and  all.  I  hope,  if  possible,  he 
will  go  to  Galway ;  *  and  why  cannot  one  of  the  girls 
go  with  him  ?  .  .  . 

If  the  girls  wish  to  know  something  about  the  fash¬ 
ions,  I  will  tell  them  what  I  can.  Their  Tuscan  bon¬ 
nets  are  just  as  they  make  them  here.  Also  they  plait 
gauze  ribbon  around  the  front,  either  inside  or  out,  as 
you  please — narrow  game  ribbon,  like  the  trimming, 

*  Galway,  New  York,  was  the  home  of  Noyes’s  sister,  Eliza¬ 
beth,  who  had  married  Dr.  Ransom. — G.  W.  N. 


GLIMPSES  OF  NOYES  FAMILY 


275 


or  blond  lace.  I  am  going  to  get  mine  altered,  and 
trimmed  with  yellow.  If  they  are  going  to  have  new 
silk  dresses,  get  blue  black.  Capes  are  made  form, 
like  their  white  scolloped  ones,  with  a  ruffle  upon 
the  edge,  corded  and  plaited  on  with  box  plait.  Mus¬ 
lin  and  lace  worked  capes  and  collars  are  much 
worn.  ...  I  don’t  know  whether  I  can  afford  to  make 
a  present  of  the  combs.  The  brass  ones  are  too  vulgar. 
These  are  gilt. 

I  am  very  glad  John  is  at  home,  on  his  account. 
Hope  he  will  stay,  if  consistent.  The  subject  of  Per¬ 
fectionism  is  occasionally  brought  up  by  those  I  meet 
with,  but  none  believe  in  it.  I  do  not  condemn  it,  but 
am  sometimes  placed  in  a  rather  unpleasant  situation 
because  of  it. 

I  should  be  very  glad  if  I  had  something  to  send 
more  than  love  to  all.  Sometime  perhaps  I  shall.  But 
I  do  send  a  great  deal  of  love.  And  do  all  write  to 
me.  Find  all  the  fault  with  me  that  you  wish  to.  Do 
not  fear;  it  will  do  me  good. 

Yours  affectionatelv, 

Joanna. 


Harriet  Noyes  to  Mary  Mead 

Putney,  August  3,  1835. 

Dear  Sister: — We  hear  by  the  way  of  Claremont, 
that  Mrs.  L.  G.  Mead  attended  a  ball — a  capital  exam¬ 
ple  of  Perfectionism! — and  that  you  said,  further¬ 
more,  “that  once  you  wouldn’t  have  done  it,  but  a 
Perfectionist  might  do  anything.”  So  you  see  that, 
though  you  live  over  the  river  and  nine  miles  off,  you 
cannot  escape  the  breath  of  Putney  slander. 


276 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


Joanna  to  the  Family  at  Putney 

New  Haven,  October  5,  1835. 

My  dear  Friends: — I  cannot  realize  that  I  have  so 
recently  seen  you.  My  visit  at  home  seems  like  a 
dream,  and  I  can  remember  scarcely  anything  about 
it.  It  was  so  hurried,  I  do  not  wonder.  Besides,  you 
know,  I  had  only  eyes  and  ears  and  mouth  for  my  pre¬ 
cious  husband,  and  hardly  a  thought  to  bestow  upon 
anybody  or  anything  else.  He  is  gone  now,  and  I  am 
beginning  to  look  around  to  see  where  I  am,  and  what 
I  can  find  to  supply  his  place.  Alas!  I  am  ready  to 
say:  “Ye  have  taken  away  my  idols,  and  what  have  I 
left?”  I  now  begin  to  think  it  would  be  very  pleasant 
to  go  home  and  make  a  visit;  not  for  the  sake  of  the 
journey,  nor  to  just  look  at  you  and  off,  but  to  go  and 
sit  down,  and  talk,  and  inquire  into  all  your  affairs, 
and  tell  you  all  mine.  .  .  . 

I  remember  with  some  regret  the  lectures  I  gave  the 
girls.  Poor  Charlotte!  I  fear  she  will  never  forgive 
me,  but  I  meant  well.  I  could  not  bear  to  think  that 
you  were  wasting  your  youth  and  talents,  and  cramp¬ 
ing  your  geniuses  in  such  a  way.  I  do  really  think 
you  would  be  more  happy,  and  more  useful,  and  more 
likely  to  subserve  the  end  of  your  being,  if  you  were  to 
mingle  more  with  society  and  cultivate  and  exercise 
social  feelings.  Instead  of  studying  and  thinking  con¬ 
stantly  upon  doctrines  and  speculating  upon  human 
nature,  you  should  try  to  make  yourselves  agreeable, 
and  others  happy ;  and  do  good  to  every  one  you  meet, 
not  merely  by  teaching  them  the  way  to  heaven,  but 
by  showing  them  kindness  and  attention  and  by  meet- 


GLIMPSES  OF  NOYES  FAMILY 


277 


ing  their  offers  of  friendship  with  a  hearty  return.  I 
say  that  you  may  love  every  one,  if  you  will,  and  you 
will  be  the  happier  and  better  for  it.  Do  you  not  think 
just  as  I  do  about  this?  I  know  you  do,  so  now  do 
begin  to  put  in  practice  what  you  are  so  well  convinced 
is  true.  I  fear  you  will  not,  if  you  remain  in  Putney, 
It  is  hard  to  turn  over  a  new  leaf  like  this  there.  I 
thought  at  one  time  that  I  should  commence  house¬ 
keeping  before  long,  and  should  have  one  or  both  of 
you  with  me  a  while,  but  I  have  pretty  much  given  up 
the  idea  of  it  now  until  Samuel  returns.  ...  I  wish 
in  the  meantime  that  you  would  go  somewhere  to 
school.  Why  not  ?  Do  not  think  that  it  will  be  of  no 
advantage  to  you.  It  certainly  will.  Why  not  go  to 
Hartford?  Belinda  loves  the  school  there;  so  would 
you.  Papa  will  let  you  go,  if  you  wish.  You  would 
form  some  pleasant  acquaintances,  and  would  enjoy 
yourselves  better  than  to  stay  at  home.  Go,  and  break 
away  from  all  your  bad  habits  of  shutting  yourselves 
up.  Forget  Putney  and  Putney  folks  and  all  the  sto¬ 
ries  for  the  time.  Learn  to  love  everybody,  and 
to  please,  and  when  you  come  back  you  will  look 
upon  everything  with  a  different  eye  from  what  you 
do  now. 

I  have  written  on  just  as  the  thoughts  occurred  to 
me.  I  suppose  you  will  all  laugh,  but  I  am  willing,  if 
you  will  do  as  I  wish  to  have  you. 

I  have  neither  seen  nor  heard  anything  of  John. 
Cannot  think  why  he  does  not  call,  if  he  comes  in  town. 
We  were  good  friends  when  I  saw  him  last 

Yours  affectionately, 

J.  Noyes  Hayes. 


278  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

Reminiscense $  of  Charlotte  Noyes  Written  in  1873 

The  summer  of  1836  opened  with  many  unfavorable 
omens  to  the  cause  of  Perfectionism.  Boyle,  Dutton 
and  other  leading  spirits  were  as  widely  separated 
from  each  other  as  from  John.  Antislavery  and  other 
reforms  absorbed  what  little  enthusiasm  they  had  left. 
In  our  family  the  same  purpose  to  divide  and  scatter, 
if  possible,  was  at  work.  An  older  sister  Joanna, 
whose  husband  was  in  the  West  Indies,  spent  several 
months  at  home.  She  was  a  woman  of  great  decision 
and  strength  of  character — very  attractive,  and  much 
beloved  by  us  all.  Naturally  she  was  much  interested 
in  the  education  and  prospects  of  her  younger  broth¬ 
ers  and  sisters.  Though  a  church  member  her  tastes 
and  ambition  led  her  toward  worldly  success.  She 
saw  and  felt  instinctively  that  John’s  influence  over  us 
was  to  lead  us  away  from  the  world,  and  make  us 
unfashionable,  as  he  was.  This,  seen  from  her  point 
of  view,  was  to  make  life  a  failure.  In  May  I  was 
sent  to  a  boarding-school  in  Hartford,  and  George’s 
preparation  for  college  was  urged  forward.  Joanna 
took  Harriet  with  her  to  Saratoga  for  a  three  weeks’ 
visit.  For  the  time  being  it  looked  as  if  we  should 
all  drift  away  with  the  tide. 

Charlotte  to  Horatio 

Miss  Draper’s  Seminary, 
Hartford,  May  15,  1836. 

Dear  Brother  Ploratio : — I  thank  you  a  thousand 
times  for  your  letter,  the  more  for  its  being  unex¬ 
pected.  .  .  .  Many  important  events  were  crowded 


GLIMPSES  OF  NOYES  FAMILY 


279 


into  last  week.  Elizabeth’s  departure  for  the  far  west, 
and  your  setting  out  in  the  world  for  yourself,  and 
John  and  all — made  me  anxious  to  hear.  .  .  . 

I  had  a  very  pleasant  ride  indeed  to  Hartford.  .  .  . 
We  arrived  about  eight  in  the  evening,  and  I  found  to 
my  great  joy  that  Miss  Draper  could  accommodate  me. 
...  I  find  all  the  boarders  pleasant,  and  like  the  rules 
and  regulations  very  much.  I  think,  all  things  consid¬ 
ered,  that  by  keeping  “a  stiff  upper  lip”  (as  you  used 
to  say  when  we  were  in  Boston)  and  a  little  philosophy 
to  help  I  shall  pass  the  summer  pleasantly,  and  perhaps 
profitably.  Now  do  give  me  one  of  your  admirable 
orations,  divided  into  twenty  heads  and  fifty  good  rea¬ 
sons,  comprising  all  the  good  advice  and  sage  maxims 
you  can  think  of.  I  suppose  it  will  be  comparatively 
tame  on  paper.  I  shall  lose  those  significant  looks,  and 
emphatic  pauses,  that  used  to  make  us  all  laugh  so  at 
home.  .  .  . 

I  like  living  in  a  city  very  much.  Don’t  you?  I 
imagine  there  is  a  smile  of  contempt  on  your  face  at 
the  mention  of  Hartford,  when  you  are  in  New 
York. 

Have  you  got  Harriet  those  illustrations  of  “Gray’s 
Elegy”  that  she  wished  ?  How  do  you  think  she 
enjoys  herself?  I  imagine  she  is  not  obliged  to  retire 
to  the  garret  for  solitude  now.  .  .  . 

Here  I  am  writing  to  you  with  all  the  calmness  in 
the  world,  while  Miss  Gregory  and  two  other  girls  are 
in  my  room  actually  crying  for  home!  You  may  think 
me  proof,  if  I  can  resist  the  contagion.  .  .  . 

Your  affectionate  sister, 


Charlotte. 


280  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

Harriet  to  Horatio 

Putney,  July  1836. 

Dear  Brother  Horatio : — To  quote  the  venerable 
Mrs.  Dorothy :  “The  first  tellers  of  unwelcome  news 
have  but  a  losing  office” ;  vice  versa,  I  hope  for  a  gain¬ 
ing  one.  Won’t  it  please  you  (that  is  all  the  gain  I 
wish)  to  hear  from  Elizabeth,  and  her  family,  and  her 
country?  A  letter  is  now  before  me,  the  address  in 
her  own  handwriting,  the  postmark  “Kalamazoo, 
Michigan  Territory.”  As  you  cannot  see  the  original, 
I  will  send  you  an  epitome. 

She  commences  with  their  leaving  Galway.  They 
were  detained  there  by  the  rainy  weather  and  conse¬ 
quent  bad  roads  three  weeks.  On  the  5th  of  June 
everything  was  ready,  and  they  started  upon  their  long 
journey.  Through  the  State  of  New  York  they  found 
beautiful  country  and  flourishing  towns.  They  passed 
part  of  a  day  in  Buffalo,  and  crossed  the  river  at  Black 
Rock  into  Canada.  Here  the  roads  were  almost  impas¬ 
sable,  and  everything  unpleasant.  When  she  arrived 
at  Detroit,  she  says,  she  felt  once  more  at  home,  com¬ 
paratively;  and  here  she  echoes  the  universal  burst  of 
admiration  and  delight  on  seeing  the  country — the  soil 
— the  wheat. 

They  reached  Kalamazoo  the  6th  of  July.  Though 
they  were  often  very  much  fatigued,  the  journey  on 
the  whole  was  beneficial  to  their  health.  .  .  .  She  says 
she  was  often  reminded  on  her  way  of  what  Grand¬ 
mother  told  her,  that  “she  would  have  such  a  fatiguing 
journey,  she  would  never  wish  to  come  back.” 
“Indeed,”  she  adds,  “I  sometimes  felt  so,  but  on  get¬ 
ting  rested  I  think  it  not  so  improbable,  particularly 


GLIMPSES  OF  NOYES  FAMILY 


281 


if  there  should  be  a  railroad  from  this  part  of  the  coun¬ 
try  to  Detroit.” 

Now  I  leave  you,  Horatio,  to  make  your  own  com¬ 
ments  and  amplifications.  There  are  a  thousand  inter¬ 
esting  points,  and  none  more  so  than  the  debt  of 
gratitude  we  owe  to  Him,  who  has  exceeded  our 
anticipations  and  oh,  vastly  our  desserts. 

A  gentleman  called  here  last  week,  Mr.  Patten, 
brother-in-law  of  Chauncey  Dutton.  .  .  .  He  reminded 
me  of  Lovett.  Such  a  coincidence  as  there  is  in  the 
character  and  feelings  of  all  the  Perfectionists  cannot 
be  accounted  for  on  infidel  principles.  If  God  has  a 
people  on  the  earth,  I  believe  they  are  that  people.  .  .  . 

Who  knows  but  I  shall  be  in  the  Empire  State  next 
Sabbath  as  well  as  you!  In  as  noisy  a  place  as  New 
York  too.  Can  you  guess  where?  What  if  I  should 
go  to  Saratoga  Springs  with  Joanna,  as  is  our  inten¬ 
tion!  You  start.  “What!  that  great,  strong,  bounc¬ 
ing  girl  going  to  the  Springs!”  Pish!  I  don’t  go  for 
my  health,  Horatio,  but  because  my  father  says  I  may, 
and  I  love  to  go  about.  W e  wish  to  get  there  if  we  go, 
before  the  great  Temperance  Convention  the  4th  of 
August.  That  will  give  us  an  opportunity  of  seeing 
great  and  good  men,  that  we  could  seldom  find.  We 
shall  stay  a  fortnight  probably,  if  we  go.  .  ,  .  Perhaps 
we  shall  not  go.  We  must  not  say,  “Tomorrow  we 
will  do  such  or  such  a  thing,”  but,  “If  the  Lord  will.” 
•  •  • 

I  have  been  reading  Paulding’s  “Life  of  Washing¬ 
ton,”  and  have  finished  “Tapnet.”  That  is  an  anomaly 
in  novels,  because  we  could  not  guess  the  end  from  the 
beginning  or  even  the  middle  of  the  book.  ...  I  don’t 


282 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


approve  of  reading  novels  though — more  especially 
when  one  has  weak  eyes,  and  none  to  read — and  is 
thoughtless  enough  naturally. 

George’s  school  is  done.  He  thought  Mr.  Wilder 
the  perfection  of  a  teacher.  .  .  . 

Now  I  must  say  adieu.  Be  a  good  boy,  and  believe 
me  still 

Your  loving  sister, 

H.  H.  Noyes. 

Harriet  to  Charlotte 

Putney,  August  19,  1836. 

My  dear,  dear  Sister: — How  can  I  tell  you  what 
we  have  just  heard  from  our  dear  sister  Elizabeth! 
Yesterday  morning  we  received  a  letter  from  her, 
written  with  trembling  hand  and  tearful  eyes,  after 
just  returning  from  the  last  sad  ceremonies  paid  to 
her  darling  baby.  Our  dear  little  Theodore  is  dead. 
Can  you  believe  it?  .  .  .  Poor  Elizabeth?  Her  heart 
is  almost  broken.  She  says :  “I  try  not  to  grieve,  but 
can  a  mother  forget?  He  was  just  beginning  to  creep, 
and  was  every  way  lovely  and  promising.”  Only  to 
think  she  was  all  alone  from  the  time  he  was  taken 
until  the  day  he  died — that  is,  without  her  husband  to 
sustain  her,  or  a  brother  or  sister.  What  a  heavy 
stroke  for  her,  weak,  and  far  away  from  home!  But 
it  was  God  who  gave,  and  his  kindness  may  be  even 
greater  in  taking  away.  She  says  she  means  to  seek 
the  Lord  with  a  whole  heart,  and  receive  an  assurance 
of  her  salvation,  for  nothing  else  can  support  in  afflic¬ 
tion  like  hers.  .  .  .  Dr.  Ransom  feels  the  loss  deeply. 
He  idolized  the  babe,  and  “thought  he  could  keep  him 


GLIMPSES  OF  NOYES  FAMILY 


283 


as  long  as  he  pleased,  but  God  had  other  plans.”  He 
says  that  Michigan  will  do  for  men,  but  is  no  place  for 
women  and  children.  Elizabeth  however  says  she 
does  not  feel  as  if  their  going  there  was  the  occasion 
of  this.  She  thinks  it  very  healthy,  and  the  country 
very  alluring  to  men  of  enterprise.  But  she  says  too, 
she  never  could  be  reconciled  to  going  there ;  that  their 
privations  and  hardships  were  too  many.* 

Would  you  like  an  account  of  our  journey  to  Sara¬ 
toga  Springs?  Let  me  look  over  my  journal. 

We  were  absent  three  weeks.  George  carried  us 
to  Fayetteville,  where  we  took  the  western  stage. 
.  .  .  Highland  Hall,  our  final  depot,  is  situated  in  a 
retired,  romantic  spot,  out  of  the  village,  and  every 
way  agreeable  to  ladies  without  protectors.  Though 
Union  and  Congress  Halls  looked  gayer  and  showier — 
had  more  of  the  pomp  and  glitter  of  pleasure — we 
concluded  we  were  the  happiest  there.  The  board  was 
five  dollars  per  week;  the  house  and  table  faultless. 
There  were  between  thirty  and  forty  boarders,  all  with¬ 
out  exception  pleasant — some  fashionable.  Most  of 
them  were  pious,  intelligent,  rational  people. 

The  great  National  Temperance  Society  held  its 
convention  while  we  were  there.  It  was  literally  an 
august  assembly,  but  I  was  disappointed.  Indeed  I 
was  never  more  sensible  of  the  weakness  and  insuffi¬ 
ciency  of  man.  We  might  expect  at  least  sound  rea¬ 
son  and  practical  philosophy  in  a  combination  of  such 
distinguished  men,  but  instead  of  it  much  of  the  time 
was  spent  in  what  I  thought  trifling  dispute  and  per- 

*’  Elizabeth  succumbed  to  the  hardships  of  her  frontier  home 
in  1841,  at  the  age  of  thirty-four. — G.  W.  N. 


284 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


sonal  allusions.  However,  some  of  the  addresses  were 
interesting.  For  myself  I  valued  most  the  opportunity 
of  catching  a  glimpse  of  such  men  as  Dr.  Beecher  and 
Dr.  Graham,  and  hearing  the  effusions  of  their  giant 
minds. 

And  now  I  am  in  Locust  Grove  again,  pursuing  the 
usual  routine  of  making  beds  and  sweeping  and  writing 
family  letters.  .  .  .  No  sociability  here,  as  usual,  but  I 
am  satisfied;  in  fact  it  is  all  the  pleasanter.  Just  to 
think  of  the  thousand  disagreeable  things  which  those 
avoid  who  turn  a  little  one  side  of  the  great  Broad¬ 
way  of  the  world,  hive  in  one  comb  and  eat  their  bread 
alone!  If  the  Bible  is  true,  at  last  and  finally  Religion 
is  the  thing  of  importance.  Heaven  grant  that  we  may 
not  forget  it,  nor  despise  our  day  of  grace. 

Your  affectionate  sister, 

H.  H.  Noyes. 

John  Noyes  to  his  son  Horatio  (who  having  grad¬ 
uated  from  Yale  College  had  recently  entered  upon 
a  four  months'  engagement  as  civil  engineer  on  Staten 
Island)  August  31,  1836 

You  will  readily  see  you  must  make  yourself  master 
of  mathematics,  especially  of  trigonometry.  You 
must  likewise  have  an  accurate  eye,  and  be  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  all  the  instruments  you  have  to  use. 
Engineering  no  doubt  will  be  a  good  business  for  many 
years  to  come.  Those  gentlemen  who  excell  in  skill, 
judgment,  integrity  and  good  manners  will  command 
in  your  business  very  high  salaries,  and  will  not  be 
exposed  very  often  in  the  frosty  season  of  the  year. 
Go  on! 


ELIZABETH  (NOYES)  RANSOM 


GLIMPSES  OF  NOYES  FAMILY 


285 


Harriet  to  Horatio ,  August  31,  1836 

I  congratulate  you  on  your  prospect  of  promotion, 
though  I  don’t  exactly  understand  in  what  respect 
walking  after  with  the  chain  is  more  honorable  than 
going  before  with  the  same.  .  .  . 

What  do  you  think  of  John  and  Perfectionism  now- 
a-days?  I  hope  that  we  shall  not  forget  God,  who  is 
our  Father  and  Savior.  His  favor  is  in  reality  worth 
everything  else,  and  without  it  everything  else  will  be 

a  curse.  Why  don’t  we  feel  and  realize  this? 

1 

Joanna  to  Charlotte ,  August  31,  1836 

How  w^uld  you  like  to  return  to  Hartford  and 
spend  the  winter?  If  I  go  to  New  Haven  in  October, 
I  shall  endeavor  to  be  in  Hartford  at  the  close  of  your 
term  and  take  you  with  me  to  New  Haven. 

Charlotte  to  Her  Father 

Hartford,  September  28,  1836. 

Dear  Father: — I  am  afraid  you  will  think  this  a 
formidable-looking  bill.  When  I  look  it  over,  I  am 
obliged  to  ask  myself,  if  I  have  gained  anything  in 
exchange.  I  know  that  when  I  came  away,  Mother 
said  that  she  did  not  send  me  here  merely  to  study, 
but  to  see  the  world,  enjoy  myself,  etc.  I  have  studied 
a  good  deal,  and  I  certainly  have  enjoyed  myself.  I 
have  formed  friendships  with  a  great  many  pleasant 
girls,  whom  I  shall  be  very  sorry  to  part  with  indeed. 

Examination  commences  a  week  from  next  Thurs¬ 
day,  and  closes  Monday.  Tuesday  morning  we  Ver¬ 
mont  girls  start  for  our  own  green  hills.  We  are 


286 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


anticipating  our  journey  and  its  termination  with  a 
great  deal  of  pleasure. 

I  think  that  Harriet  would  enjoy  herself  very  much 
to  spend  next  winter  here.  If  it  is  best,  I  hope  you  will 
let  us  both  come.  Harriet,  I  shall  be  proud  to  show 
them  a  good  scholar,  for  the  fact  is  there  are  precious 
few  here;  at  least  I  think  so. 

Your  loving  daughter, 


Charlotte. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 


RE-INTERPRETATION  OF  PROPHECY 

It  was  apparent  to  Noyes  from  the  first  that  his 
new  theory  of  the  second  coming  of  Christ  would  lead 
to  a  change  of  view  regarding  other  prophecies  of  the 
Bible.  During  his  six  weeks’  session  with  David  Har¬ 
rison  at  New  Haven  he  had  leisure  to  investigate  this 
subject,  and  the  conclusions  to  which  he  came  are  out¬ 
lined  below: 

The  second  coming  of  Christ  at  the  end  of  the  Jew¬ 
ish  age,  and  the  dispensation  of  the  fullness  of  times 
at  the  end  of  the  Gentile  age  Noyes  called  “the  two 
foci  of  prophecy.”  He  found  in  the  apocalyptic  drama 
grouped  around  the  former  the  first  resurrection,  the 
first  judgment,  the  sealing  of  144,000  from  the  tribes 
of  Israel;  around  the  latter  the  final  resurrection,  the 
final  judgment,  the  complete  subjection  of  this  world 
to  Christ,  the  gathering  of  the  universal  church ;  inter¬ 
vening  between  the  two  the  millennium,  the  binding 
and  loosing  of  Satan,  the  testimony  of  Christ’s  two 
witnesses.  According  to  this  view  the  second  coming 
of  Christ,  the  resurrection  and  judgment  of  the  Jewish 
nation,  the  millennium  are  past  instead  of  future ;  and 
the  next  act  to  come  is  the  final  resurrection  and  judg¬ 
ment  of  mankind. 

This  regrouping  of  prophetic  events  involves  a 
change  in  the  popular  conception  of  the  millennium. 

287 


288 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


Noyes  says:  “It  is  generally  assumed  that  the  apo¬ 
calyptic  'dragon’  is  the  exclusive  representative  of  evil, 
and  that  during  the  thousand  years  when  he  was 
bound  (that  is  the  millennium)  righteousness  and 
peace  must  have  reigned  supreme.  But  these  qualities 
during  the  millennium  are  attributed  in  Rev.  20 :  4-6 
only  to  the  martyrs  of  Jesus,  not  to  the  nations  of  the 
world.  'The  rest  of  the  dead  lived  not  again  until 
the  thousand  years  were  finished.’  Hence  death  with 
its  train  of  evils  was  not  destroyed  for  mankind  gen¬ 
erally.  Furthermore  the  above  assumption  leaves  the 
‘beast’  out  of  view.  In  the  12th  and  13th  chapters 
of  Revelation  we  are  authorized  to  suppose  that  while 
the  dragon  was  bound  the  beast  took  his  place.  The 
millennium  then  was  the  period  of  the  supremacy  of 
the  beast;  and  instead  of  being  a  period  of  glory  to  the 
inhabiters  of  the  earth  was  a  period  of  blasphemy, 
war  and  bondage.’ ’ 

Noyes  regarded  the  apocalyptic  dragon,  who  is  also 
called  “the  Devil”  and  “Satan,”  as  the  special  repre¬ 
sentative  of  idolatry;  hence,  in  his  view,  the  “binding 
of  Satan”  symbolized  the  suppression  of  idolatry 
throughout  Christendom  during  the  Middle  Ages.  The 
“bottomless  pit,”  or  more  correctly  the  “abyss”  or 
“sea,”  into  which  Satan  was  cast,  Noyes  understood 
as  signifying  the  idolatrous  regions  of  the  eastern 
world,  against  which  the  Mohammedans  for  ages  con¬ 
stituted  a  barrier.  Signs  of  the  “loosing  of  Satan” 
at  the  end  of  the  thousand  years  Noyes  saw  in  the 
decay  of  the  Mohammedan  power  and  the  reenthrone¬ 
ment  of  Greek  and  Roman  (that  is  Pagan)  intellect 
at  the  period  of  the  Renaissance. 


RE-INTERPRETATION  OF  PROPHECY  289 


The  “two  witnesses,”  whose  career  according  to  the 
Apocalypse  occupies  the  whole  space  between  the  first 
and  second  judgments,  Noyes  found  reason  in  the 
Bible  to  identify  with  Moses  and  Elijah.  Hence, 
when  Christ  said :  “I  will  give  power  to  my  two  wit¬ 
nesses,  and  they  shall  prophesy  a  thousand  two  hun¬ 
dred  and  three  score  days,”  Noyes  understood  him  to 
mean:  “I  will  give  power  to  Moses  and  Elijah,  who 
have  been  my  witnesses  and  agents  in  the  Jewish  dis¬ 
pensation,  and  they  shall  continue  their  official  work 
among  the  Gentiles  for  another  period  of  1260  years.” 
The  consequence  of  this  theory  Noyes  stated  thus: 
“The  dispensation  which  succeeded  the  apostolic  age 
was  not  a  continuation  of  the  dispensation  introduced 
by  Christ,  but  of  that  committed  to  Moses  and  Elijah. 
It  has  plainly  borne  the  marks  of  its  secondary  origin. 
We  can  readily  trace  in  it  the  footsteps  of  Moses  and 
Elijah  but  not  of  Christ.  It  has  upheld  the  righteous¬ 
ness  of  the  law,  and  has  nourished  within  itself  the 
hopes  of  the  prophets.  But  the  righteousness  of  God 
revealed  by  the  gospel  has  been  wanting.” 

The  second  coming  of  Christ,  the  first  focus  of 
prophecy,  Noyes  had  definitely  charted  as  having 
taken  place  at  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  in  the  year 
70  A.  D.  The  final  riddle  was  the  dating  of  the  other 
focus,  the  dispensation  of  the  fullness  of  times.  In 
attempting  a  solution  of  this  question  Noyes,  like 
William  Miller  and  Bible  commentators  generally, 
based  his  calculation  of  the  duration  of  the  “times  of 
the  Gentiles”  on  Daniel’s  famous  number,  2300  days 
(or  years)  ;  but  unlike  them  he  found  the  starting- 
point  of  Daniel’s  number  not  at  a  date  which  was 


290 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


involved  in  the  uncertainties  of  early  Jewish  chronol¬ 
ogy,  but  at  a  date  determined  by  reference  to  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  the  chronological  position  of 
which  was  definitely  known.  His  argument  in  brief 
was  this: 

Jeremiah  had  named  only  seventy  years  for  the 
desolation  of  Israel.  (Jer.  25:  11.)  It  was  in  view 
of  the  unexpected  prolongation  of  the  sufferings  of  the 
Jews  to  2300  years,  that  Daniel  “fainted,  and  was 
sick  certain  days.”  Gabriel,  who  was  commissioned 
to  explain  this  mystery,  said  to  Daniel  (Dan.  9:  24)  : 
“Seventy  weeks,  [or  490  years]  are  determined  upon 
thy  people,  and  upon  thy  holy  city,  to  finish  the  trans¬ 
gression,  and  to  make  an  end  of  sins,  and  to  make 
reconciliation  for  iniquity,  and  to  bring  in  everlasting 
righteousness,  and  to  seal  up  the  vision  and  prophecy, 
and  to  anoint  the  most  Holy.”  Here  is  a  much  smaller 
number  than  that  which  so  astonished  Daniel  in  the 
first  vision.  Gabriel’s  explanation  amounts  to  this: 
Though  the  Gentiles  shall  have  dominion  over  the 
Jews  for  2300  years,  yet  the  grand  object  of  the  Jew¬ 
ish  dispensation — the  coming  of  the  Messiah  and  the 
establishment  of  everlasting  righteousness — shall  take 
place  within  490  years. 

We  have  then  two  periods,  2300  years  and  490 
years,  both  starting  from  the  same  point,  the  first 
extending  beyond  our  knowledge,  the  second  terminat¬ 
ing  near  the  Christian  era.  Now  if  we  can  ascertain 
the  date  of  the  termination  of  this  last  period,  we  can 
reckon  back  and  so  find  the  date  of  the  starting-point 
of  both.  “Seventy  weeks  are  determined  upon  thy 


RE-INTERPRETATION  OF  PROPHECY  291 


people,  and  upon  thy  holy  city.”  The  objects,  for  the 
accomplishment  of  which  this  period  is  assigned,  are 
evidently  not  merely  the  coming  or  the  death  of  the 
Messiah,  but  the  completion  of  the  Jewish  dispensa¬ 
tion,  including  the  finishing  of  the  Scriptures,  the  ful¬ 
fillment  of  the  new  covenant  “with  many,”  the  final 
cessation  of  the  daily  sacrifice,  and  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem.  (Dan.  9:  24,  26,  27.)  Thus  from  data 
furnished  by  the  Bible  we  are  obliged  to  affirm  that 
the  starting-point  of  Daniel’s  2300  years  was  490 
years  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  or  420 
years  before  the  Christian  era.  Taking  420  from  2300 
we  have  1880  as  the  period  when  the  sanctuary  shall 
be  cleansed,  and  the  desolation  of  the  Jews  cease; 
which  is  the  end  of  the  times  of  the  Gentiles— -the  day 
of  final  judgment.* 

*  It  is  a  singular  coincidence  that  the  Oneida  Community, 
which  Noyes  regarded  as  a  “sortie  or  raid  from  the  kingdom 
of  God”  introductory  to  the  actual  establishment  of  that  king¬ 
dom  on  the  earth,  came  to  an  end  in  1880. — G.  W.  N. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

REPUDIATION  OF  FORMER  LEADERS 

Confession  of  Religions  Experience 

As  I  have  said  that  the  summer  and  fall  of  1836 
was  the  turning-point  of  Dutton’s  career,  so  I  may  say 
that  it  was  the  turning-point  of  my  own  and  of  the 
cause  of  holiness.  It  was  the  time  when  Boyle’s 
administration  came  to  a  close,  and  when  I  began  to 
act  independently  of  my  former  associates  and  to  take 
the  place  which  I  have  since  occupied.  I  commenced 
the  war  on  “false  brethren”  and  “false  apostles”  while 
at  Newark  by  writing  to  Charles  H.  Weld  a  letter  of 
renunciation.  This  was  in  effect  a  rending  of  all  my 
previous  attachments.  Thenceforth  my  longing  for 
friends  looked  forwards  instead  of  backwards.  The 
old  set  was  broken  up,  and  my  hopes  turned  toward  a 
new  set  to  be  gained  on  new  principles. 

Noyes  to  Charles  H.  Weld 

Newark,  N.  J.,  September  1836. 

To  Charles  H.  Weld 

Our  relations  to  each  other  during  two  or  three 
years  past  have  been  apparently  those  of  sincere  Chris¬ 
tian  affection.  On  my  own  part  the  appearance  corre¬ 
sponded  to  the  reality  until  a  little  more  than  a  year 
ago.  The  events  of  that  period  forced  upon  me  the 
conviction  that  you  were  an  enemy  in  disguise.  Yet  I 

292 


REPUDIATION  OF  FORMER  LEADERS  293 


was  not  disposed  to  utter  this  conviction  publicly,  until 
every  shadow  of  doubt  had  passed  away.  I  have  since 
had  full  leisure  and  opportunity  to  analyze  your  char¬ 
acter.  The  darkness  is  past,  and  I  am  now  prepared 
not  only  to  assert  but  to  prove  to  you  and  to  all  men, 
that  you  are  “a  child  of  the  devil,  an  enemy  of  all 
righteousness.” 

To  the  end  that  our  relations  henceforth  may  be 
in  appearance  what  they  are  in  reality,  I  send  you  the 
following  statement  of  facts.  Let  God  and  your  own 
conscience  be  the  judges  of  its  truth. 

By  your  own  confession  it  appears  that  previous 
to  our  acquaintance  you  had  suffered  under  the  sever¬ 
est  rebuke  of  God  for  drawing  back  from  his  call.  Yet 
you  had  found  a  way  to  the  highest  seat  in  the  spirit¬ 
ual  synagogue,  and  could  boast  of  paternal  supremacy 
over  such  men  as  Finney,  Boyle,  Lansing  and  Theo¬ 
dore  D.  Weld.  Without  holiness  and  without  a  com¬ 
mission  from  the  Most  High  you  had  assumed  lord- 
ship  over  God’s  heritage ;  and  when  at  length  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  holiness  was  developed  and  the  power  of  the 
Most  High  was  manifested  within  your  dominions, 
you  were  ready  to  take  charge  of  its  operations  and 
make  it  a  stepping-stone  to  a  still  higher  advancement. 
At  first  I  was  too  simple  to  match  your  subtleties,  and 
for  a  season  submitted  to  your  assumption  of  paternal 
oversight,  suffering  you  in  a  measure  to  check  the 
boldness  of  my  testimony.  At  length  however  I 
asserted  the  liberty  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  you  were 
cast  down  from  your  throne  into  the  horrors  of  the 
nethermost  hell.  I  looked  for  a  good  result.  But 
behold!  You  came  up  from  the  pit  not  with  the  sub- 


294  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

clued  penitence  of  a  rebuked  sinner,  but  with  the  dig¬ 
nity  of  a  savior  suffering  for  the  sins  of  the  world! 
You  had  won  the  laurels  of  the  Lamb  of  God,  and 
thenceforth  your  title  to  the  throne  of  universal  domin¬ 
ion  was  in  your  own  imagination  fully  established. 
Unskilled  as  I  was  in  the  devices  of  Satan  I  gave  place 
to  your  pretensions,  and  fell  back  into  the  place  of  a 
John  the  Baptist  to  you.  Soon  however  my  eyes 
were  opened.  During  my  sufferings  in  New  York  the 
snare  was  broken,  and  since  then  I  have  clearly  seen 
the  envious  emulation  of  your  spirit.  Still  I  could 
not  condemn  you  altogether,  but  hoped  for  your 
redemption.  In  the  spring  of  1835  y°u  visited  me  at 
Putney,  and  I  received  you  as  a  brother.  At  our  first 
interview  you  confessed  that  an  unsubdued  devil  was 
within  you,  and  predicted  your  subsequent  rebuke.  The 
truth  of  your  confession  was  soon  manifest  in  the  dis¬ 
guised  yet  perceptible  chagrin  of  your  spirit,  when  I 
refused  to  join  you  in  your  fanciful  schemes  of  self¬ 
exaltation.  From  that  time  a  war  of  wills  commenced 
between  us.  God  is  my  witness,  that  in  that  death- 
struggle  I  fought  not  for  supremacy  but  for  liberty. 
At  length  God  gave  me  the  victory  at  New  Haven  by 
smiting  you  with  a  second  curse.  Again  you  came 
up  from  hell  a  savior  and  a  conqueror.  I  was  not 
deceived  the  second  time  in  respect  to  the  nature  of 
your  sufferings.  I  knew  with  certainty  that  you  suf¬ 
fered  not  for  righteousness’  sake  but  for  cruelly  oppres¬ 
sing  a  righteous  man.  Thus  I  was  compelled  to  give 
you  up  as  a  reprobate  and  to  scrutinize  you  as  an 
adversary.  I  soon  perceived  that  from  the  beginning 
your  confession  of  Christ  had  been  only  a  forced  and 


REPUDIATION  OF  FORMER  LEADERS  295 


formal  lip-service,  submitted  to  for  selfish  purposes, 
as  was  also  your  confession  of  my  relative  standing. 
The  proofs  of  your  hypocrisy  have  since  been  con¬ 
stantly  accumulating,  until  now  I  can  no  longer  shrink 
from  believing  and  declaring  you  to  be  in  very  deed 
and  beyond  hope  according  to  your  own  confession  a 
prince  of  devils. 

God,  who  pleadeth  the  cause  of  his  people,  now  says 
to  me:  “Behold,  I  have  taken  out  of  thine  hand  the 
cup  of  trembling,  even  the  dregs  of  the  cup  of  my 
fury;  thou  shalt  no  more  drink  it  again.  But  I  will 
put  it  into  the  hand  of  them  that  afflict  thee,  which 
have  said  to  thy  soul,  Bow  down,  that  we  may  go 
over:  and  thou  hast  laid  thy  body  as  the  ground,  and 
as  the  street,  to  them  that  went  over.”  If  your  will 
had  been  done,  I  should  have  been  the  bridge  by  which 
you  and  all  the  unclean  in  this  world  and  in  hell  would 
have  passed  over  into  the  Holy  City,  for  the  doctrine 
of  universal  salvation  was  evidently  the  ground  of 
your  own  hope.  But  God  will  ere  long  remove  from 
your  mind  as  he  has  from  mine  every  vestige  of  such 
a  hope.  You  must  drink  the  cup  you  have  given  me, 
and  that  eternally.  I  have  suffered  personally  more 
by  the  cruelty  of  your  benevolence  than  by  all  other 
causes  together;  and  the  way  of  truth  has  been  evil 
spoken  of  more  by  reason  of  the  perverse  things  which 
have  come  in  through  you  than  for  all  other  reasons. 
For  God’s  sake  therefore  and  for  his  elect’s  sake  I 
will  lay  bare  your  nakedness  till  you  receive  your  full 
portion  of  everlasting  shame  and  contempt.  In  con¬ 
clusion,  be  it  known  to  you,  that  in  deceiving  me  you 
have  deceived  yourself;  in  murdering  me  you  have 


296 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


murdered  yourself.  By  delusion  you  have  driven  me 
into  certainty;  by  bondage  you  have  driven  me  into 
liberty ;  by  damnation  you  have  driven  me  into 
heaven. 

John  H.  Noyes. 

Character  of  Charles  H.  Weld:  Home-talk  by  Noyes , 

December  1850 

It  is  difficult  to  lay  the  finger  on  perverse  things  in 
Weld’s  character  that  are  open  to  superficial  observa¬ 
tion.  His  outward  conduct  was  inoffensive.  But  he 
was  a  bad  man — a  very  dangerous  man — and  all  the 
worse  for  being  a  wolf  in  sheep’s  clothing. 

There  are  three  different  motives  of  human  action: 
the  motive  of  fear,  the  motive  of  attraction  to  the 
things  we  are  about,  and  the  motive  of  attraction  to  a 
superior  will,  the  will  of  God.  New  Haven  Perfec¬ 
tionism  started  as  a  development  of  the  third  type  of 
motive,  that  of  attraction  to  the  will  of  God.  But 
after  a  while  a  spirit  came  in,  which  put  in  the  place  of 
attraction  to  the  will  of  God  a  mere  antinomian  refer¬ 
ence  to  inclination.  It  taught  that  whatever  one  is 
attracted  to  is  the  will  of  God.  It  opened  the  door  for 
a  complete  riot  of  the  imagination,  and  became  the  es¬ 
sence  of  pleasure-seeking.  Charles  H.  Weld  more 
than  any  other  man  brought  this  spirit  into  Perfec¬ 
tionism.  He  was  extremely  prudent,  but  wherever  he 
thought  it  safe  he  insinuated  sensual  ideas  about  the 
kingdom  of  God.  He  uncovered  enough  in  his  con¬ 
versations  with  me  to  make  it  certain  that  those  were 
the  primary  ideas  in  his  mind  and  that  holiness  was 
entirely  secondary. 


REPUDIATION  OF  FORMER  LEADERS  297 


Then  Weld  by  his  undiscriminating  benevolence 
brought  Perfectionism  into  a  variety  of  false  fellow¬ 
ships.  Instead  of  attending  to  the  development  of  new 
truth  that  was  going  on  at  New  Haven,  he  was  all  the 
time  trying  to  hitch  us  on  to  some  who  had  gone 
before  and  bring  about  a  union  in  an  unchaste  way. 
He  got  into  rapport  with  Latourette,  the  leader  of 
legal  Perfectionism,  and  introduced  me  to  him  as  one 
of  the  heads  of  the  cause.  I  commenced  war  on 
Latourette  at  once,  but  Weld’s  spiritual  connection 
with  him  gave  Latourette  the  run  of  the  whole  field 
and  reduced  all  to  a  common  level.  Again  it  was  Weld 
more  than  any  one  else  who  brought  Gates  with  all 
his  evil  influences  upon  us.  He  was  the  first  man  among 
us  who  visited  Gates,  and  his  favorable  report  gave 
great  currency  to  Gates’s  false  prophecies  and  anti¬ 
organization  views.  He  inoculated  all  of  us  with 
Gates’s  puttering  attention  to  little  signs  and  omens — 
devil’s  providences  they  might  be  called.  This  spirit 
gave  me  unspeakable  torment,  and  it  was  months  be¬ 
fore  I  was  entirely  cured.  Weld’s  tendency  to  helter- 
skelter  running  together  with  all  who  profess  to  be 
spiritual  has  been  a  great  handicap  to  the  cause,  which 
we  have  had  to  work  out  of  by  the  hardest. 

His  inordinate  desire  for  preeminence  I  have  suffi¬ 
ciently  described  in  my  Confession  of  Religious  Ex¬ 
perience.  Others  whom  he  touched  and  magnetized 
broke  out  with  this  same  disease,  and  Mrs.  Carrington, 
his  only  convert  so  far  as  I  know,  was  the  clearest 
specimen  of  inflated  egotism  we  ever  had  among  us. 

Another  characteristic  of  Weld  was  ineffectiveness 
of  thought.  His  intellect  was  over-subtle  and  adapted 


298 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


to  make  fog  on  any  subject.  He  would  admit  the 
truth,  but  admit  with  it  a  thousand  suppositions  and 
doubts.  Hence  he  never  had  in  his  mind  clear  prin¬ 
ciples  which  could  be  put  to  use. 

Weld  was  also  a  marked  example  of  imbecility  of 
will.  He  was  all  the  time  like  a  person  dreaming.  A 
person  who  loves  God  and  the  central  principles  of  the 
universe  is  in  the  waking  state ;  to  him  spiritual  things 
are  realities,  clear  matters  of  fact.  He  not  only  per¬ 
ceives  and  delights  in  them,  but  lays  hold  of  them,  and 
they  of  him,  so  that  he  becomes  identified  with  them 
and  acts  from  them.  Weld,  on  the  other  hand,  though 
he  perceived  and  delighted  in  the  same  things,  did  it 
in  a  dreamy  way.  Before  he  could  get  into  action  a 
collapse  came  on.  Take  for  instance  the  declaration, 
‘‘Seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness, 
and  all  other  things  shall  be  added  unto  you.”  That 
to  me  is  an  everyday  reality.  I  fling  myself  on  it  at 
all  hazards.  Charles  H.  Weld  saw  that  truth  as 
plainly  as  I  do,  and  could  talk  about  it;  but  when  any¬ 
thing  was  to  be  done  to  prove  his  faith  in  it,  he  col¬ 
lapsed. 

The  fact  will  be  found  when  searched  out,  that 
Charles  H.  Weld  was  the  head  of  antinomian  Perfec¬ 
tionism — of  sensual,  imaginative  Perfectionism — of 
the  spirit  that  abandons  all  law,  and  professes  to  sub¬ 
mit  to  God,  but  in  reality  submits  to  the  devil,  and 
then  sinks  down  into  folly,  apostasy  and  death. 

The  alienation  of  Boyle  commenced  at  the  time  of 
Noyes’s  conflict  with  Charles  H.  Weld  in  the  summer 

T^35*  “Looking  only  on  the  outward  appearance,” 


REPUDIATION  OF  FORMER  LEADERS  299 


wrote  Noyes,  “Boyle  understood  not  the  warfare  in 
which  I  was  engaged,  and  was  offended  at  the  appar¬ 
ent  mysticism  and  fanaticism  which  attended  it.  The 
circumstances  in  which  I  was  placed  rapidly  developed 
to  my  view  many  new  and  strange  principles  of  spirit¬ 
ual  philosophy;  and,  as  is  generally  the  case  with 
beginners,  the  language  in  which  I  spoke  of  them  to 
others  was  probably  not  very  lucid.  Boyle  took  up  the 
cudgels  against  the  new  spiritual  principles.  He  de¬ 
nounced  openly  my  'eternal  spinning/  as  he  called  my 
progress  in  spiritual  novelties.  He  hung  up  in  his 
room  a  card  enumerating  the  'doctrines  of  devils’ 
against  which  he  protested.  I  only  remember  one  of 
them,  'the  fellowship  of  spirits.’  At  my  first  arrival 
in  New  Haven  I  had  prepared  an  article  entitled  What 
We  Believe ,  which  Boyle  willingly  published  in  the 
Extra.  But  afterward  he  gave  out  word  that  he 
wanted  no  more  of  my  contributions.  He  whipped 
me  in  the  paper  as  hard  as  he  could  without  calling  my 
name,  and  his  hostile  influence  among  the  believers 
left  me  from  this  time  forward  but  little  foothold  in 
New  Haven.” 

The  alienation  thus  commenced  was  carried  further 
in  the  fall  of  1835  by  the  Gates-Boyle  attack  on  Paul. 
Noyes  always  felt  that  his  relation  to  Paul  was  pecu¬ 
liarly  close,  and  this  attack  affected  him  deeply.  Indeed 
he  dated  his  abandonment  of  “Boyleism”  from  the 
time  of  the  publication  of  Boyle’s  charges  against 
Paul. 

Finally  a  complete  rupture  was  brought  about  by 
Noyes’s  renunciation  letter  to  Charles  H.  Weld.  Boyle 
dissented  strongly  from  Noyes’s  judgment  of  Weld, 


300  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

and  tried  to  persuade  him  to  take  a  different  attitude. 
Finding  that  Noyes  was  immovable,  Boyle  at  last  in 
an  interview  at  the  home  of  Abram  C.  Smith  declared 
“everlasting  separation.”  Noyes  replied,  “Amen.” 

For  more  than  three  years,  while  Noyes  was  without 
means  of  publishing,  the  Gates-Boyle  attack  on  Paul 
remained  unchallenged  in  print;  but  after  Noyes  had 
established  a  press  of  his  own,  he  published  a  rejoin¬ 
der,  from  which  the  following  is  an  extract: 

The  two  foremost  assertions  of  original  New  Haven 
Perfectionism  were  first,  that  perfect  and  perpetual 
holiness  is  the  only  standard  of  true  Christianity,  and 
second,  that  the  apostle  Paul  was  a  living  example  of 
such  holiness.  Take  away  these  assertions  with  their 
antecedents  and  consequences,  and  New  Haven  Per¬ 
fectionism  has  neither  soul  nor  body — is  but  the  name 
of  a  nonentity.  And  yet  it  is  true,  though  it  is  nearly 
incredible,  that  T.  R.  Gates,  the  most  naked  and  pre¬ 
sumptuous  of  all  impugners  of  these  assertions,  was 
not  only  recognized  as  a  Christian  brother  for  a 
long  time  by  Weld  and  Boyle,  but  was  actually 
suffered  to  assume  over  them  the  office  of  spiritual 
leader. 

And  indeed  the  shepherds  who  let  (or  rather 
brought)  the  wolf  into  the  fold  did  not  even  put  him 
to  the  trouble  of  disguising  himself  with  sheep’s  cloth¬ 
ing.  With  the  full  means  of  knowing  that  Gates 
openly  rejected  the  most  essential  doctrines  of  Perfec¬ 
tionism  Boyle  advertised  The  Reformer  and  Christian 
as  a  publication  “eminently  designed  to  do  good,”  and 
thenceforward  gave  to  the  writings  of  Gates  the  larg- 


REPUDIATION  OF  FORMER  LEADERS  301 


est  place  in  The  Perfectionist.  Thus  emboldened  and 
invited  Gates  was  not  backward  in  availing  himself 
of  the  privilege  of  peaceably  putting  an  end  to  the 
troublesome  doctrine  of  perfect  holiness  by  making 
The  Perfectionist  itself  the  medium  of  its  own  refu¬ 
tation.  In  November  1835  he  ceased  publishing  The 
Reformer  and  Christian ,  and  after  highly  commend¬ 
ing  The  Perfectionist  as  a  sufficient  substitute  for  his 
own  publications  he  announced  that  in  future  he  should 
communicate  his  views  through  that  paper.  Accord¬ 
ingly  in  the  next  number  of  The  Perfectionist  the  lead¬ 
ing  article  is  from  his  pen;  and  the  leading  object  of 
that  article  is  to  prove  that  the  Lord’s  apostles,  espe¬ 
cially  Paul,  had  not  “attained  to  righteousness” — had 
not  “entered  in  by  the  door” — “were  in  a  measure 
thieves  and  robbers!”  As  a  corollary  to  this  he  insin¬ 
uates  as  boldly  as  he  dares,  that  none  have  yet  attained 
to  righteousness,  and  of  course  that  Perfectionists  in 
their  professions  of  holiness  are  either  fools  or  impos¬ 
tors.  And  all  this  passed  with  Boyle  for  good  orthodox 
Perfectionism. 

I  cannot  but  believe  that  this  is  an  instance  of  impos¬ 
ture  and  effrontery  on  the  one  side  and  of  credulity 
and  tergiversation  on  the  other  wholly  unprecedented 
in  the  annals  of  religious  iniquity  and  folly. 

In  the  latter  part  of  February  1837  Abram  C.  Smith 
wrote  to  Noyes : 

“I  received  a  letter  from  Latourette  last  week.  He 
saith  my  great  sin  is  to  have  some  other  arm  besides 
the  Lord’s  to  lean  upon.  He  saith  farther  that  he  is 
hid  from  those  flesh-pots  and  slime-pits  who  call  them¬ 
selves  Perfectionists;  and  if  I  do  not  take  heed,  God 


302  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


will  remove  me  as  with  a  stroke,  as  he  did  Absalom 
the  fool.” 

About  a  month  later,  while  Noyes  was  sojourning 
in  the  vicinity  of  New  York,  he  wrote  to  Latourette 
recounting  the  circumstances  of  their  first  meeting,* 
and  added: 

“I  saw  the  crooked  character  of  your  mind  in  this 
affair  at  the  time ;  yet  I  did  not  condemn  you,  but  have 
since  been  waiting  for  the  proof  of  you.  ...  If  you 
can  clear  yourself  of  these  charges,  I  shall  most  gladly 
greet  you  as  a  brother.  If  you  kick  against  the  pricks, 
I  shall  expose  and  overthrow  you,  though  you  carry 
a  spear  like  a  weaver’s  beam,  and  defy  the  armies  of 
the  living  God  with  the  voice  of  a  Goliath.” 


Latourette  to  Noyes 

New  York,  April  5,  1837. 

My  dear  young  man : — 

I  received  your  letter,  and  was  quite  pleased  to  see 
how  you  handled  my  old  man. 

I  am  hid  with  Christ  in  the  Rock,  or  in  the  Lazo  of 
God.  ...  I  have  much  to  mourn  for,  and  lament  that 
we  are  such  poor  and  feeble  and  ignorant  creatures 
by  nature ;  and  without  the  sweet  grace  of  God  we  are 
not  able  to  do  any  good  acts  nor  think  a  good  thought. 

Relative  to  your  letter  I  can  say,  You  do  say  rightly. 
You  do  not  know  me.  And  you  may  strive  to  know 
me  and  never  know  me,  until  you  are  dead  indeed  unto 
sin  and  alive  unto  God — alive  to  thy  duty  to  society 
in  aiding  in  earning  bread,  temporal  and  spiritual,  and 
clothing,  spiritual  and  temporal.  .  .  . 


*  See  pp.  133-134, 


j. 


REPUDIATION  OF  FORMER  LEADERS  303 


Now  why  is  it  that  you  do  not  fellowship  me?  Is 
it  because  I  have  not  got  a  good  spirit  of  love,  truth 
and  faith  in  my  blessed  Lord  and  Master?  I  will 
tell  thee,  my  brother : 

Thou  art  not  yet  in  the  inner  court,  and  have  not 
been  called  there ;  and  as  Hagar  to  Sarah,  and  Ishmael 
to  Isaac,  so  your  spirit  has  treated  me.  .  .  . 

Now  let  me  say  unto  thee,  my  dear  young  man,  God 
our  Father  is  not  dependent  upon  us,  and  yet  we  are 
dependent  entirely  upon  him. 

You  have,  no  doubt,  many  views  of  the  beauties  of 
King  Solomon;  so  had  his  concubines;  so  had  Hagar 
of  Abraham’s  honors,  yet  none  of  these  were  married 
wives. 

I  can  recommend  thee  to  seek  to  know  the  Shep¬ 
herd’s  voice,  and  then  be  wise,  and  not  be  led  by  a 
stranger.  .  .  . 

I  perceive  thy  letter  is  written  from  the  left  hand, 
hence  you  know  me  not,  nor  do  you  yet  know  your 
right  from  your  left. 

I  am  the  servant  to  servants,  surnamed 

Israel. 


Noyes  to  Latourette 

New  York,  April  5,  1837. 

To  James  Latourette: — 

The  meaning  of  your  letter  stripped  of  its  sheep’s 
clothing  is  simply  this:  “ Your  charges  are  false ,  and 
not  worthy  of  a  reply.  You  are  a  young  man;  you 
do  not  know  your  right  hand  from  your  left ;  you  are 
not  dead  to  sin ;  you  know  not  God  nor  me;  you  are 
too  idle  to  get  your  living On  the  second  page  of 


304 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


my  letter  you  will  find  the  following  words  :  “If  you 
are  one  of  those  who  say  they  are  apostles,  and  are 
not,  but  do  lie,  you  will  probably  deny  the  facts  I  have 
stated,  and  rebut  the  plainness  of  speech,  with  which 
I  shall  further  prove  you,  by  retort  and  reviling.” 
You  intended  to  evade  the  test,  but  you  have  so  exactly 
fulfilled  my  prediction,  that  my  course  is  made  plain. 
“Thanks  be  unto  God,  who  taketh  the  wise  in  their 
own  craftiness.” 

J.  H.  Noyes. 

“After  this  correspondence,”  says  Noyes,  “I  had  an 
interview  with  Latourette,  in  which  he  claimed  the 
credit  of  having  caused  my  sufferings  by  ‘delivering 
me  to  Satan  for  the  destruction  of  the  flesh/  and 
attempted  to  frighten  me  into  subjection  by  relating 
instances  of  the  swift  perdition  of  his  opposers.  In 
reply  I  charged  upon  him  before  God  and  men  the 
crime  of  spiritual  tyranny,  and  declared  myself  in  rela¬ 
tion  to  such  slaveholders  an  abolitionist.” 


CHAPTER  XXX 

NOYES  ASSERTS  HIS  DIVINE  COMMISSION 

Abram  C.  Smith  to  Noyes 

Newark,  N.  J.,  January  4,  1837. 

Dear  Brother: — .  .  .  I  have  received  a  letter  from 
Brother  Newberry  of  New  Haven.  He  desired  to 
know  where  you  were.  I  have  no  doubt  the  sons  of 
God  would  be  glad  to  hear  from  you  at  this  time,  as 
you  were  the  first  that  came  out  in  the  faith.  “As 
for  this  Moses,  we  wot  not  what  is  become  of  him,” 
they  may  say,  if  they  are  not  established  in  the  faith. 
So,  my  dear  John,  be  quick  to  hear  what  God  shall 
say  unto  thee,  or  his  church. 

Your  Brother, 

Abram  C.  Smith. 

David  Harrison  to  Noyes 

Meriden,  Conn.,  January  13,  1837. 

Dear  Brother  Noyes: — .  .  .  Waiting  on  God,  and 
acting  in  obedience  to  the  leadings  of  his  spirit  is  with 
me  a  practical  matter.  It  is  my  business,  and  my 
whole  business.  Though  I  have  been  out  of  work  for 
some  days,  I  have  been  busy  in  watching  the  motion 
of  the  needle.  If  you  know  of  fifty  dollars  that  can 
be  had,  or  of  any  business  that  is  appropriate,  I  should 
like  to  hear  from  you. 

Yours  in  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ, 

David  Harrison. 


305 


306 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


Noyes  to  David  Harrison 

Putney,  January  15,  1837. 

Dear  Brother: — “Though  the  vision  tarry  long, 
wait  for  it;  it  will  come.”  I  need  not  tell  you  why 
I  have  delayed  writing  so  long,  and  why  I  am  yet  in 
the  same  circumstances  as  when  we  were  together, 
save  that  I  am  out  of  debt.  You  understand  the  seem¬ 
ing  coquetry  of  our  Beloved,  and  know  the  terms  on 
which  I  trust  Him.  I  thank  God  that  I  have  the  same 
confidence  for  you  as  for  myself. 

After  we  parted  I  went  to  New  York  with  a  view 
to  finding  employment  or  the  means  in  some  way  of 
refunding  the  money  borrowed  at  New  Haven  and  of 
assisting  you.  I  was  led,  however,  to  Newark,  and 
compelled  (you  know  how)  to  spend  several  months 
with  Brother  Smith,  pursuing  the  same  train  of 
thought  and  discussion  which  I  commenced  with  you. 
Many  times  I  inquired  of  the  Lord  if  I  might  not  go 
to  work,  or  write  to  you,  and  as  often  the  answer  was : 
“Be  quiet;  he  that  believeth  shall  not  make  haste.”  I 
came  to  this  place  in  November,  and  am  wintering  at 
my  father’s  on  such  terms  as  you  may  suppose  must 
exist  between  me  and  an  unbeliever,  receiving  friendly 
treatment  as  a  man  but  not  known  as  a  son  of  God 
and  a  brother  of  the  saints. 

On  receipt  of  your  letter  I  made  inquiries  of  a 
machinist  in  this  place,  who  is  also  a  disciple,  concern¬ 
ing  employment  for  you.  He  thinks  he  will  be  in  a 
condition  to  employ  several  persons  in  the  spring,  but 
not  at  present.  There  is  an  augur  factory  in  Chester¬ 
field,  a  town  adjoining  this,  but  I  have  had  no  oppor¬ 
tunity  of  learning  their  occasions  for  work.  I  sent  a 


NOYES’S  DIVINE  COMMISSION  307 


statement  of  your  case  to  Brother  Smith.  Perhaps 
you  will  hear  from  him.  But  all  this  is  uncertain  help. 
You  will  be  delivered  in  due  time  by  Him  who  gave 
us  the  fourpences.  I  have  fully  discerned  the  beauty 
and  drunk  the  spirit  of  Habakkuk’s  resolution : 
“Though  the  fig-tree  do  not  blossom,  and  there  be  no 
fruit  in  the  vines;  though  the  labor  of  the  olive  fail, 
and  the  field  yield  no  meat ;  though  the  flock  be  cut  off 
from  the  fold,  and  there  be  no  herd  in  the  stall;  yet 
will  I  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  I  will  joy  in  the  God  of  my 
salvation.”  Yea,  brother,  I  will  rejoice  in  the  Lord; 
though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  Him. 

The  present  winter  is  doubtless  a  time  of  sore  trib¬ 
ulation  to  many.  I  see  the  saints  “laying  off  and  on” 
like  the  distressed  ships  at  the  entrance  of  New  York 
harbor  waiting  for  pilots;  and  I  would  advise  them 
all,  if  I  could,  to  make  a  bold  push  and  “run  in”  at  all 
events.  For  one  I  have  passed  the  Hook.  My  soul  is 
moored  with  an  anchor  sure  and  steadfast,  the  anchor 
of  Hope;  and  I  am  willing  to  do  what  I  can  as  a  pilot 
to  others.  Yea,  I  will  lay  down  my  life  for  the  breth¬ 
ren,  and  God  has  made  me  “mighty  to  save.”  But, 
you  know,  a  pilot  must  have  the  helm,  and  I  find  few 
who  are  willing  to  give  their  vessels  into  the  hands  of 
such  a  stripling.  And  I  desire  not  that  they  should, 
until  that  stripling  is  manifestly  declared  to  be  the 
right  hand  of  the  Son  of  God.  As  necessity  is  the 
mother  of  invention,  so  it  is  the  mother  of  faith.  I 
therefore  rejoice  in  the  necessity  which  will  ere  long 
work  full  confidence  in  God — such  confidence  as  will 
permit  him  to  save  his  people  “in  a  way  they  have  not 
known,” 


308 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


In  the  meantime  my  faith  is  growing  exceedingly. 
I  know  that  the  things  of  which  we  communed  at  New 
Haven  will  be  accomplished.  Of  the  times  and  sea¬ 
sons  I  know  nothing.  During  my  residence  at  Newark 
my  heart  and  mind  were  greatly  enlarged.  I  had  full 
license  to  investigate  the  prophecies,  and  came  to  many 
conclusions  of  like  importance  to  those  which  inter¬ 
ested  us  at  New  Haven.  The  substance  of  all  is,  that 
God  is  about  to  set  a  great  white  throne  on  his  foot¬ 
stool,  and  heaven  and  earth,  that  is,  all  spiritual  and 
political  dynasties,  will  flee  away  from  the  face  of  him 
who  shall  sit  thereon.  The  second  resurrection  and  the 
second  judgment  are  at  the  door.  The  righteous  will 
be  separated  from  the  wicked  by  the  opening  of  the 
books  and  the  testimony  of  the  saints.  “The  house  of 
Jacob  shall  become  a  fire,  and  the  house  of  Joseph  a 
flame,  and  the  house  of  Esau  shall  be  for  stubble.  Sa¬ 
viors  shall  come  up  on  Mount  Zion  to  judge  the  mount 
of  Esau,  and  the  kingdom  shall  be  the  Lord’s.”  Between 
this  present  time  and  the  establishment  of  God’s  king¬ 
dom  over  the  earth  lies  a  chaos  of  confusion,  tribu¬ 
lation  and  war  such  as  must  attend  the  destruction  of 
the  fashion  of  this  world  and  the  introduction  of  the 
will  of  God  as  it  is  done  in  heaven.  God  has  set  me 
to  cast  up  a  highway  across  this  chaos,  and  I  am  gath¬ 
ering  out  the  stones  and  grading  the  track  as  fast  as 
possible.  For  the  present  a  long  race  and  a  hard  war¬ 
fare  is  before  the  saints,  that  is,  an  opportunity  and 
demand  for  faith,  one  of  the  most  precious  commodi¬ 
ties  of  heaven.  Only  let  us  lay  fast  hold  of  the  hope 
of  our  calling,  let  us  set  the  Lord  and  his  glory  always 
before  our  face,  and  we  shall  not  be  moved. 


NOYES’S  DIVINE  COMMISSION  309 


I  thank  God  that  you  have  “fully  known  my  doc¬ 
trine,  manner  of  life,  purpose,  faith,  long-suffering, 
charity,  patience,  persecutions,  afflictions,”  to  the  end 
that  you  may  rest  in  the  day  of  trouble;  for  I  say  to 
you  before  God  that,  “though  I  be  weak  in  Christ,  I 
know  I  shall  live  by  the  power  of  God”  toward  you 
and  all  saints.  I  am  holden  up  by  the  strength  that  is 
needed  to  sustain  not  my  weight  only  (for  I  am  but 
a  handle)  but  the  weight  of  all  who  shall  come  after 
me.  I  would  that  you  knew  the  exceeding  greatness 
of  the  power  which  through  me  is  searching  the  bow¬ 
els  of  the  whole  world.  You  will  know  it  in  due  time. 
All  flesh  shall  know  that  the  Holy  One  of  Israel  is 
my  redeemer.  Till  then  I  must  seem  to  bear  witness 
of  myself.  .  .  . 

Write,  if  you  wish  to  hear  from  me. 

Yours  in  the  Lord, 

J.  H.  Noyes. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 


COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE  PUTNEY  BIBLE  SCHOOL 

Confession  of  Religious  Experience 

I  returned  from  Newark  to  Putney  in  November 
1836,  and  remained  at  my  father’s  during  the  follow¬ 
ing  winter.  At  this  time  I  commenced  in  earnest  the 
enterprise  of  repairing  the  disasters  of  Perfectionism, 
and  establishing  it  on  a  permanent  foundation ;  not  by 
preaching  and  stirring  up  excitement  over  a  large  field, 
as  we  had  done  at  the  beginning,  nor  by  laboring  to 
reorganize  and  discipline  broken  and  corrupted  regi¬ 
ments,  as  I  had  done  at  Prospect,  but  by  devoting  my¬ 
self  to  the  patient  instruction  of  a  few  simple-minded, 
unpretending  believers  chiefly  belonging  to  my  father’s 
family.  I  had  now  come  to  regard  the  quality  of  the 
proselytes  of  holiness  as  more  important  than  their 
quantity;  and  the  quality  which  I  preferred  was  not 
that  meteoric  brightness  which  I  had  so  often  seen 
miserably  extinguished,  but  sober  and  even  timid  hon¬ 
esty.  This  I  found  in  the  little  circle  of  believers  at 
Putney ;  and  the  Bible  school,  which  I  commenced 
among  them  in  the  winter  of  1836-7,  proved  to  be  to 
me  and  to  the  cause  of  holiness  the  beginning  of  better 
days. 


Reminiscences  of  Noyes's  Sister  Charlotte 

Late  in  the  fall  of  1836  John  returned  to  Putney. 

310 


THE  PUTNEY  BIBLE  SCHOOL 


311 


Mother  was  a  frequent  invalid  at  this  time,  and  kept 
her  chamber.  In  her  room  John  felt  most  at  home. 
The  Bible  was  always  her  favorite  study,  and  her  inter¬ 
est  in  true  religious  experience  was  never  cold.  I  do 
not  know  exactly  how  it  commenced,  but  soon  my  sis¬ 
ter  Harriet  began  to  spend  her  evenings  in  Mother's 
room,  listening  and  reading  with  them.  Her  whole 
soul  was  hungry  for  salvation,  for  an  experimental 
acquaintance  with  God.  While  she  was  thus  pressing 
forward,  she  had  one  great  drawback :  it  was  the 
thought  that  she  must  leave  me  behind.  If  I  con¬ 
tinued  indifferent,  she  and  I,  who  had  been  inseparable 
from  childhood,  must  here  part.  To  give  me  up  cost 
her  many  tears.  How  did  I  know  it?  Nothing  had 
been  said  to  me  of  her  struggles,  but  I  felt  in  my  heart 
that  Harriet  had  left  me,  that  she  had  set  out  in  earn¬ 
est  to  be  religious.  This  broke  up  my  indifference. 
My  heart  melted  toward  God.  I  must  go  with  her. 
She  had  opened  the  way,  and  I  would  follow  with  all 
my  heart.  I  joined  her  in  spending  all  my  leisure  time 
in  that  “upper  chamber.”  George  came  too.  This  was 
the  beginning  of  a  new  era  in  our  family.  John  com¬ 
menced  his  “home-talks”  there  with  Mother,  Harriet, 
George  and  me  for  listeners.  It  was  a  revival  on  a 
small  scale  that  lasted  all  winter.  We  studied  the  Bible 
in  a  practical,  self-applying  way.  The  truth  that  had 
before  been  held  as  a  theory  was  laid  to  heart.  John 
watched  the  process  of  conviction,  and  warned,  ex¬ 
horted  and  encouraged  us,  and  led  us  along  step  by  step. 

It  required  more  courage  at  that  time  to  profess 
salvation  from  sin  than  it  does  now.  Harriet,  George 
and  I,  though  called  Perfectionists,  had  never  made 


312 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


such  a  profession.  In  February  1837  we  all  made  a 
public  profession  in  this  way:  George,  who  was  four¬ 
teen  years  old,  was  attending  the  district  school,  and 
one  morning  after  the  teacher  and  scholars  were  all 
seated  he  rose  and  confessed  his  belief  in  Christ  as  a 
Savior  from  sin.  A  discussion  followed,  in  which 
George  had  the  whole  school  against  him  except  one 
girl.  The  same  evening  Harriet  and  I  called  upon  a 
near  neighbor,  who,  though  a  church  member,  was  the 
most  notorious  newsmonger  in  the  village.  We  told 
her  we  believed  that  Christ  came  to  save  his  people 
from  their  sins,  and  we  believed  that  he  had  saved  us. 
She  was  loud  and  voluble  in  her  opposition,  and  her 
husband  (not  a  church  member)  said  with  solemn  em¬ 
phasis :  ‘They  are  joined  to  their  idols;  let  them 
alone!”  But  we  went  home  light-hearted,  knowing 
that  now  our  confession  would  go  far  and  fast  as 
tongue  could  carry  it,  and  believing  it  true  that  Christ 
would  confess  us. 

Mrs.  Polly  Noyes  to  Mrs.  Crawford ,  November  1836 

John  is  much  the  same.  Sometimes  I  think  he  has 
perhaps  done  all  his  work  in  the  way  of  preaching;  at 
others  I  think  he  will  preach  the  everlasting  gospel 
with  a  power  greater  than  anything  he  has  yet  done. 
I  have  some  interesting  conversation  with  him,  but  my 
long  discipline  only  proves  that  like  the  law  he  can 
enlighten  and  condemn,  but  cannot  give  peace  to  the 
troubled  mind  nor  renew  and  purify  the  heart. 

Mrs.  Crawford  to  Noyes,  January  1 837 

If  you  think  it  best,  will  you  not  with  your  disciples 


CHARLOTTE  (NOYES)  MILLER 


THE  PUTNEY  BIBLE  SCHOOL 


313 


at  home  come  here  this  evening?  I  feel  desirous  to 
make  it  my  whole  business  at  present  to  seek  first  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness.  How  far  is 
it  right  for  me  to  look  to  you  for  instruction?  I  am 
at  present  in  a  critical  spot — it  seems  to  me,  if  there 
is  such  a  thing,  neither  a  believer  nor  an  unbeliever. 
I  am  willing  to  be  tried  by  close  questioning  and  re¬ 
buking,  that  I  may  know  the  worst  of  my  state,  and  be 
led  to  seek  refuge  only  in  God. 

Mrs.  Polly  Noyes  to  Mrs.  Crawford 

Putney,  January  1837. 

Dear  Mrs.  Crawford : — In  consequence  of  some 
things  that  were  said  and  feelings  that  were  excited  at 
our  late  interview  I  think  I  am  led  to  write  to  you, 
and  sketch  down  some  of  the  operations  through  which 
God  has  been  pleased  to  make  me  pass  since. 

The  manner  and  power,  with  which  John  spoke  to 
me  and  produced  such  a  sensation  in  all,  I  believe, 
who  were  present,  were  but  a  small  specimen  of  what 
I  have  been  through  quite  a  number  of  times  both  last 
winter  and  this.  It  was  the  distress  and  conflict  which 
he  saw  the  necessity  of  my  case  required,  and  the  feel¬ 
ings  of  nature  and  flesh,  that  so  preyed  upon  his  spirits 
last  winter  and  at  last  made  him  quit  and  run  away. 
For  myself  I  would  be  like  “a  bird  shot  down,”  with 
scarcely  the  breath  of  life  in  me  sometimes  for  a  day 
or  two,  and  then  by  the  subsequent  seeking  for  help 
from  God  come  to  a  better  spirit,  and  we  would  be 
quite  happy  and  in  good  fellowship  till  my  puffing 
would  require  another  reproof. 

Last  Sunday  his  rebuke  produced  in  me  a  feeling 


314 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


of  despair  that  I  had  never  before  experienced.  The 
last  time  before  I  thought  I  never  could  bear  it  again; 
and  now  I  felt  that  nothing  but  the  power  and  grace 
of  God  could  help  me.  I  felt  wholly  to  abandon  self 
and  wholly  to  give  myself  into  the  hands  of  the  Lord 
to  do  what  he  would  with  me.  That  night  I  slept  well 
as  usual,  but  had  nothing  all  the  next  day  but  the  same 
feeling  of  despair.  “The  Lord  have  mercy”  was  all  that 
I  could  say.  The  next  morning,  while  Mrs.  P.  was 
present,  John  took  the  occasion  of  something  I  said 
to  reprove  me  sharply:  told  me  that  I  was  proud  of 
many  outward  things  about  me,  that  almost  everything 
I  did  was  tinctured  with  vainglory,  and  concluded  by 
saying  that,  if  I  did  not  loathe  myself,  he  loathed  and 
abhorred  my  spirit.  With  various  conflicting  feelings 
I  had  enough  to  do  to  restrain  a  gush  of  tears,  but  I 
did  restrain  them,  for  I  knew  in  my  heart  that  what 
he  said  was  true,  and  that  my  tears  were  those  of 
wounded  fleshly  feelings  and  I  could  and  would  sub¬ 
due  them,  and  still  despairing  of  all  other  help  look 
to  God.  John’s  manner  and  tone  were  such  that  I 
know  Mrs.  P.  must  have  been  surprised,  if  not  shocked, 
and  she  left  us  so  unceremoniously  that  I  could  not 
help  thinking  she  was  glad  to  get  away,  though  I  have 
no  doubt  she  will  think  it  on  the  whole  a  profitable 
season  even  for  her. 

The  contest  with  my  feelings  was  kept  up  all  the 
afternoon  not  to  think  hard  of  John;  but  at  length 
my  only  fears  were  that  his  feelings  might  retort, 
and  he  be  induced  to  take  back  something.  But  I  found 
I  had  no  reason  for  any  fears  of  this  kind,  for  I  knew 


THE  PUTNEY  BIBLE  SCHOOL 


315 


that  the  Lord  was  with  him,  and  he  could  not  do 
it.  And  indeed  the  firmness  which  he  has  manifested 
on  all  such  occasions  is  to  me  one  of  the  strong¬ 
est  evidences  that  he  is  of  the  Lord.  “Cursed  is  he 
that  doeth  the  Lord’s  work  deceitfully;  cursed  is  he 
that  keepeth  back  his  sword  from  blood,”  said  the 
prophet 

In  the  evening  John  came  upstairs,  Morgan  with 
him.  By  his  manner  it  was  plain  he  had  some  doubts 
whether  I  would  receive  him.  He  said  he  wished  to 
have  something  more  decisive,  and  in  the  presence  of 
those  there  he  would  make  some  propositions  to  me 
for  that  purpose.  (These  I  will  give  you  another 
time.)  When  I  told  him  what  my  feelings  were  to¬ 
ward  him,  he  said:  “That’s  good.”  We  had  a  long 
and  interesting  talk  upon  things  pertaining  to  the  king¬ 
dom  of  God,  and  all  were  affected,  and  all  expressed 
our  feelings  in  prayer  and  supplication  with  thanks¬ 
giving  to  God. 

Mrs.  Crawford  to  Mrs.  Polly  Noyes 

Putney,  January  1837. 

Dear  Mrs.  Noyes: — I  feel  to  thank  you  much  for 
your  communication  to  me  yesterday.  I  was  deeply 
interested  in  the  account  of  your  experience  the  past 
week.  The  rebukes  you  received  in  my  presence  last 
Sunday  I  took  to  myself.  I  felt  that  I  was  altogether 
without  the  wedding  garment,  and  that  I  could  not 
bear  the  scrutinizing  gaze  of  the  master  of  the  feast. 
I  feel  that  I  need  rebukes,  or  something  more  power¬ 
ful  than  I  have  had,  to  stimulate  me  and  to  bring  me 


316 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


up  to  the  point  where  self  is  entirely  given  up  and 
Christ  is  all  in  all. 

Mrs.  Polly  Noyes  to  an  Anonymous  Correspondent 

Putney,  January  io,  1837. 

.  .  .  This  is  the  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed 
God,  that  it  brings  us  into  a  living  union  with  the 
living  God,  makes  us  one  with  Christ  and  “sons  of 
God  without  rebuke.”  That  I  know  all  this  as  expe¬ 
rimentally  as  some  do,  I  do  not  say.  I  have  believed, 
and  therefore  have  I  spoken.  I  say  to  you  frankly, 
that  I  believe  John  has  received  the  “glorious  gospel” 
— that  a  testimony  has  already  gone  forth  from  him, 
which  will  shake  the  church  and  the  world — that  God 
is  preparing  him  to  go  forward  with  the  testimony — 
and  that  this  confession  of  Christ,  which  receives  him 
as  a  Savior  from  sin  and  all  evil,  will  be  the  test  which 
will  separate  the  righteous  from  the  wicked.  Already 
do*  I  see  plain  indications  that  a  separation  of  spirit  is 
taking  place  between  those  who  receive  this  doctrine 
and  those  who<  reject  it.  .  .  .  The  time,  I  believe,  is 
not  far  distant,  when  Christians  will  not  be  judged 
by  the  same  rule  as  those  that  have  gone  before.  If 
we  have  more  light  and  higher  motives  set  before  us, 
we  must  act  consistently  with  that  light.  Forgetting 
the  things  that  are  behind  we  must  press  forward 
toward  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ 
Jesus.  ...  I  know  that  the  dearest  earthly  relations 
will  be  dissolved  and  every  interest  and  worldly  attach¬ 
ment  converged  into  one  common  mass.  Like  the 
children  of  one  common  family  the  children  of  God 
will  have  no  exclusive  interests. 


THE  PUTNEY  BIBLE  SCHOOL 


317 


Mrs.  Polly  Noyes  to  Mrs.  Crawford 

Putney,  March  15,  1837. 

Dear  Mrs.  Crawford: — John  left  us  this  morning 
for  Chesterfield.  From  there  he  expects  to  go  to 
Lowell,  Andover,  Boston,  perhaps  New  York.  He  left 
us  with  very  different  feelings  from  what  he  did  last 
spring.  He  seems  quite  satisfied  with  his  winter’s 
work,  fully  believing  he  will  see  an  abundant  fruit  of 
his  labors.  He  left  much  in  charge  for  the  church  (as 
he  calls  it  here),  that  we  hold  fast  our  profession  and 
truly  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  its  right¬ 
eousness.  .  .  . 

Though  I  cannot  yet  say  that  I  have  that  inward 
testimony,  which  seems  and  no  doubt  is  the  only  thing 
that  can  give  perfect  peace  and  righteousness,  yet  I 
feel  as  if  I  were  fed,  as  it  were,  day  by  day  with  the 
heavenly  manna. 

Harriet  A.  Holton  to  Mrs.  Crawford 

Westminster,  June  15,  1837. 

Dear  Mrs.  Crawford: — .  .  .  I  joyed  to  hear  of 
Mrs.  Williams,  that  she  was  still  keeping  her  face 
Zionward,  (I  feel  assured  God  will  manifest  himself 
to  such,  even  though  they  wait  long),  of  our  friends 
of  East  Putney,  that  they  increase  with  the  increase 
of  God,  of  John,  of  Mrs.  Hayes,  (her  child-like  spirit 
is  lovely),  and  of  yourself,  dear  Mrs.  Crawford, 
although  your  advance  may  not  be  perceptible  to1  you. 
From  the  very  fact  that  it  hath  not  entered  into  the 
heart  of  man  to  conceive  the  things  which  God  hath 
prepared  for  those  who  love  him,  it  is  not  to  be 
expected  that  at  first  sight  we  should  recognize  this 


318 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


inheritance  of  which  we  are  taking  possession  to  be 
the  promised  land.  Although  we  find  it  flowing  with 
milk  and  honey,  our  taste  had  become  vitiated  by  vain 
imaginations,  and  this  simple  food  insipid. 

If  the  Lord  wills,  I  would  see  your  face.  I  would 
be  used  by  him  as  a  means  of  exciting  you  to  strive 
earnestly  for  the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints ;  and  for 
this  purpose  I  would  joyfully  give  you  a  detail  of  my 
progress  in  truth,  or  something  that  might  be  useful 
to  Mrs.  Williams.  But  when  I  attempt  it,  I  can  only 
say  that  I  am  becoming  a  fool  in  what  the  world  calls 
wisdom;  I  am  becoming  rude  and  savage  in  what  is 
termed  politeness  and  refinement.  I  am  devoid  of  all 
feeling  in  the  eyes  of  those  who  love  kindred  and 
friends  more  than  God.  I  am  a  blasphemer  to  the 
Pharisee.  In  short  my  path  lies  directly  across  the 
world’s. 

Yours  in  love, 

H.  A.  Holton. 


GEORGE  W.  NOYES 


CHAPTER  XXXII 


CONVERSION  OF  JOANNA 

This  crucial  winter  of  1836-7  Joanna  spent  at  Ches¬ 
terfield,  New  Hampshire,  visiting  in  the  home  of  her 
older  sister,  Mary  Mead.  Just  after  Harriet,  Char¬ 
lotte  and  George  made  their  public  profession  of  sal¬ 
vation  from  sin  she  wrote  the  following  note  to  her 
mother : 


Chesterfield,  February  10,  1837. 

Dear  Mother: — .  .  .  I  do  not  know  when  I  shall 
be  at  home;  perhaps  sometime  in  March.  I  should 
like  to  see  you  all  very  much,  but  do  not  expect  we 
should  agree  exactly  in  sentiment,  and  perhaps  it  is  as 
well  on  the  whole  for  all  of  us  that  I  am  away.  I  can 
not  get  much  out  of  George.  Tell  Harriet  I  could  not 
discover  perfection  in  her  note.  I  hope  you  are  all 
right,  but  think  it  possible  you  may  be  deceived.  .  .  . 

Love  to  all.  Your  affectionate  daughter, 

Joanna. 

About  the  middle  of  March,  as  he  was  leaving  home 
for  an  extended  trip,  Noyes  went  to  Chesterfield  and 
called  on  Mary  and  Joanna.  Of  his  interview  Char¬ 
lotte  says: 

“From  Mary  he  met  no  opposition,  and  nothing 

319 


320 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


occurred  to  interrupt  the  friendly  relations  existing 
between  them.  But  Joanna  was  too  independent,  too 
proud  and  self-confident  to  conceal  or  suppress  her  dis¬ 
pleasure  at  John’s  course.  A  battle-royal  ensued 
between  him  and  her — not  a  vulgar  contention  in 
words  about  external  trifles,  but  a  life  and  death  strug¬ 
gle  for  mastery  between  the  favor  of  God  and  the 
praise  of  this  world — between  faith  and  unbelief.  The 
result  was  a  glorious  victory  for  faith.  Joanna  broke 
entirely  down.  Her  pride  and  love  of  the  world  gave 
way.  After  a  few  days  of  deep  repentance  and  heart¬ 
felt  searching  for  God  she  came  forth  exceedingly 
happy  and  overflowing  with  the  love  of  God.  Seeing 
with  the  clear  light  of  inspiration  her  union  with  Christ, 
and  his  righteousness  hers,  she  exclaimed  to  Mother: 
‘You  cannot  think  how  I  love  myself!’  The  conver¬ 
sion  of  this  beloved  sister  was  a  joyful  surprise  to  us, 
and  brought  wonder  and  dismay  to  the  church  in  Put¬ 
ney  of  which  she  was  a  member  and  to  a  large  circle 
of  worldly  friends. 

Soon  after  this  Joanna  returned  to  her  home  in 
New  Haven.  During  the  few  weeks  of  her  stay  with 
us  she  gave  evidence  of  a  genuine  change  of  spirit. 
She  met  in  the  circle  of  believers  in  Putney  a  young 
woman  who  had  formerly  been  haughty  and  ambi¬ 
tious  like  herself.  As  leaders  and  rivals  in  society 
there  had  been  something  like  jealousy  and  coldness 
between  them.  But  now  the  power  of  truth  had  swept 
away  their  pride,  and  love  and  humility  had  taken  its 
place.  One  of  the  first  things  Joanna  did  was  by  con¬ 
fession  of  her  fault  to  seek  and  obtain  reconciliation 
with  this  woman.” 


CONVERSION  OF  JOANNA 


321 


Noyes  to  Joanna 

New  York,  May  4,  1837. 

Dear  Sister  Joanna: — Your  letter  came  to  hand  this 
morning,  and  I  assure  you  it  was  more  valuable  to  me 
than  the  money  it  contained,  although  I  had  just  spent 
my  last  sixpence.  I  am  persuaded  that  your  reconcili¬ 
ation  to  the  gospel  of  salvation  from  sin  will  finally 
reconcile  you  to  my  conduct ;  and  I  commend  you  most 
hopefully  to  God  and  to  the  word  of  his  grace  for  a 
knowledge  of  the  way  of  truth  without  the  least  con¬ 
cern  for  your  views  of  my  character.  I  doubt  not 
that  I  am  as  great  a  wonder  to  myself  as  I  am  to  you, 
and  the  time  has  been  when  I  was  ready  to  murmur  at 
the  Lord’s  dealings  with  me,  because  I  understood 
them  not.  It  seemed  as  if  he  had  determined  to  make 
me  as  hateful  as  possible  in  the  eyes  of  the  world.  My 
best  apology  for  the  offense  I  have  given  you  and 
others  is  this :  During  the  past  three  years  I  have  not 
been  my  own  master.  The  God,  whose  I  am  and 
whom  I  serve,  is  the  proper  respondent  to  every  accu¬ 
sation  against  me.  To  me  he  has  fully  justified  himself 
in  respect  to  my  works,  and  in  due  time  I  know  he 
will  satisfy  every  honest  mind.  I  cannot  now  attempt 
a  vindication  of  myself,  for  a  big  book  would  not 
suffice  for  such  an  undertaking.  I  will  only  say  that 
in  my  own  consciousness  I  am  the  reverse  of  a  false 
prophet,  a  sheep  in  wolf’s  clothing. 

Joanna,  I  love  your  masculine,  independent  tem¬ 
perament;  only  give  it  full  scope  by  setting  the  whole 
world  at  naught  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge 
of  Christ,  and  you  and  I  will  yet  be  happy  together. 
But  oh,  beware  of  pride,  self-will,  independence  in 


322 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


respect  to  God!  Be  a  giant  against  the  world,  but  be 
a  new-born  babe  toward  God.  If  you  would  find  a 
secure  resting-place,  seek  a  personal  and  familiar 
acquaintance  with  God;  not  such  an  acquaintance  as 
you  attain  with  great  men  by  history,  but  such  as  you 
have  with  your  husband  by  daily  association.  To 
know  God  is  eternal  life.  Jesus  Christ  has  so  recon¬ 
ciled  the  world  unto  God  by  assuming  our  nature,  that 
we  may  draw  nigh  unto  him  not  as  serfs  to  an  emperor 
but  as  children  to  a  father.  We  approach  him  by  a 
voluntary  movement  of  our  hearts,  and  we  find  him 
where  we  leave  the  world.  If  you  would  be  the  bride 
of  Christ,  you  must  take  the  lover’s  leap — a  leap  from 
the  heights  of  the  haughtiness  of  this  world  into  the 
ocean  of  the  love  of  God.  If  such  a  leap  seems  too 
formidable,  take  the  testimony  of  one  who  has  tried 
it.  I  tell  you  there  is  no  danger  and  no  difficulty. 
When  the  deed  is  done,  you  will  wonder  that  you  made 
yourself  so  much  trouble  about  it.  To  receive  and 
confess  Christ  boldly  before  men  seems  like  a  Sam 
Patch  exploit ;  but  who  would  not  choose  it  rather  than 
be  driven  over  the  Niagara  of  death  unwillingly  and 
in  the  dark  ? 

Yours  truly, 

J.  H.  Noyes. 

Mrs.  Polly  Noyes  to  Elizabeth,  May  19,  1837 

I  think  there  is  an  increasing  interest  here,  especially 
in  the  family.  Joanna  has  written  to  John.  Her  views 
are  perfectly  congenial  with  his.  .  .  .  In  a  meeting 
last  evening  at  Lydia’s  Mr.  Morgan  said  it  seemed 
to  him  perfectly  absurd  that  he  should  ever  commit 


CONVERSION  OF  JOANNA 


323 


another  sin.  So  said  Lydia;  and  Joanna  and  myself 
say  the  same. 

Lydia  Campbell  to  Harriet  A.  Holton 

Putney,  May  25,  1837. 

Dear  Harriet: — “There  is  joy  in  heaven  over  one 
sinner  that  repenteth.”  I  have  lately  experienced  some¬ 
thing  of  this  joy.  A  week  ago  this  evening  some  dear 
friends  spent  an  hour  or  two  with  me,  among  whom 
was  Mrs.  Hayes.*  She  appeared  to  be  very  desirous 
of  learning  the  truth,  and  very  teachable.  The  Lord 
gave  me  strength  to  communicate  with  her  as  I  had 
never  done  with  any  one  before.  I  felt  that  she  would 
soon  be  delivered  from  bondage,  and  for  two  or  three 
days  I  was  filled  with  such  joy  that  I  did  not  know 
what  it  meant.  On  Sunday  evening  we  met  at  my 
brother  James’s.  Mrs.  Hayes  came  in,  and  confessed 
Christ  a  whole  Savior,  and  she  now  testifies  that  she 
cannot  sin,  because  she  is  born  of  God.  I  know  not 
why  it  is,  but  I  can  see  her  spirit  as  I  never  have  that 
of  any  other  person.  She  is  indeed  lovely. 

Joanna  to  the  Family  at  Putney 

New  Haven,  July  26,  1837. 

My  dear  Friends: — If  you  have  received  Samuel’s 
letter,  it  will  not  be  necessary  for  me  to  apologize  for 
my  long  silence,  but  you  will  have  learned  that  I  have 
been  sick,  and  will  readily  excuse  me.  .  .  . 

I  should  like  to  tell  you  something  what  my  feel¬ 
ings  have  been  during  my  sickness  with  regard  to  that 

*  That  is,  Joanna.— G.  W.  N.  x  x 


324 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


one  subject  that  interests  us  all  so  much,  but  do  not 
know  as  it  will  do  for  me  to  write  much  more  now. 
However  this  I  will  say,  that  I  seem  to  have  lost  the 
assurance  I  had  of  my  being  saved  from  sin.  I  cannot 
feel  as  I  did  about  it,  though  at  the  same  time  I  do  yet 
look  upon  the  Savior  as  willing  and  able  to  deliver  me 
from  that  cruel  bondage.  At  times  during  my  sickness 
my  mind  was  much  confused  and  distressed,  but  at 
others  I  had  great  peace  and  felt  a  degree  of  submis¬ 
sion  to  the  divine  will  and  a  confidence  that  he  would 
do  what  was  right  and  would  at  last  save  me  with  an 
everlasting  salvation,  such  as  made  me  very  happy.  I 
have  much  of  this  feeling  now,  and  I  believe  too  that 
I  shall  be  led  in  the  way  of  truth.  .  .  . 

I  have  neither  seen  nor  heard  anything  of  John.  I 
hope,  if  you  do,  you  will  write  me.  I  am  sure  he  has 
one  friend  who  will  never  leave  nor  forsake  him.  Let 
us  comfort  ourselves  with  that.  .  .  . 

Yours  affectionately, 

Joanna  Hayes. 

Joanna  to  Mary  Mead 

New  Haven,  August  17,  1837. 

Dear  Sister: — .  .  .  We  have  had  a  delightful  excur¬ 
sion  to  Saratoga.  .  .  .  My  health  is  perfectly  re¬ 
stored.  .  .  . 

They  seem  to  be  going  on  from  strength  to  strength 
at  Putney  in  Perfectionism.  I  hardly  know  where  I 
am.  What  are  you  thinking  about  it  now?  Oh,  for 
light  and  guidance !  .  .  . 

Yours  affectionately, 

Joanna  Hayes. 


CONVERSION  OF  JOANNA 


325 


Joanna  to  the  Family  at  Putney 

New  Haven,  August  21,  1837. 

My  dear  Friends : — I  hope  you  do  not  think,  because 
I  write  so  seldom,  that  I  do  not  remember  you.  I 
assure  you,  if  you  do  harbor  such  a  thought,  you  are 
very  much  mistaken,  for  I  do  not  know  that  I  ever 
thought  of  you  more  than  I  have  this  summer,  or  felt 
a  greater  desire  to  see  you  and  to  know  what  you  were 
doing  and  thinking.  I  dream  about  you  almost  every 
night,  and  often  and  often  in  imagination  look  in  upon 
you,  sitting  in  that  “Prophet’s  chamber,”  reading  the 
Bible,  or  conversing  upon  the  amazing  truths  revealed 
in  it,  or  in  some  other  way  improving  the  time.  And 
do  you  not  think  I  should  like  to  join  you?  I  should 
indeed,  and  when  I  think  of  it,  the  scenes  in  which  I 
am  engaged  here  lose  much  of  their  interest  in  com¬ 
parison. 

I  wrote  you  something  about  my  exercises  when  I 
was  sick.  I  have  felt  much  the  same  since.  I  cannot 
find  within  me  that  assurance  of  being  free  from  sin 
that  I  experienced  before  I  left  home;  but  I  do  not 
give  up  the  hope  that  I  shall  again  feel  as  I  did  then. 
I  do  believe  that  the  true  children  of  God  may  attain 
to  perfect  holiness,  and  that  some  have  already  done 
so,  and  that  the  time  is  coming  when  all  will.  But 
whether  we  are  to  wait  for  his  time  or  not,  I  do  not 
know.  It  seems  to  me  that,  when  the  kingdom  of  God 
is  come  on  earth,  those  who  are  sincere  in  their  search 
for  the  truth  will  come  out  strong  and  unmoved  by 
everything  within  and  without  that  can  assail  them; 
that  they  will  be  upheld  by  the  power  of  God  and  be 
kept  in  perfect  peace. 


326  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

I  am  thinking  and  reading  a  good  deal,  but  long  for 
more  of  the  teaching  of  the  Spirit.  My  own  under¬ 
standing  is  a  blind  guide,  and  all  that  I  hear  in  New 
Haven  seems  to  me  foolishness.  Dr.  Taylor,  Mr. 
Bacon,  Mr.  Ludlow,  Dr.  Fitch,  Dr.  Beman,  President 
Nott  and  all  the  others  that  I  have  heard  have  lost 
their  charms  for  me.  They  all  seem  to  know  but  very 
little  what  is  truth.  .  .  . 

I  heard  or  saw  nothing  of  John.  Do  you  know  any¬ 
thing  about  him?  We  stopped  at  the  Astor  House  in 
New  York,  and  while  I  was  enjoying  its  splendors  I 
could  not  but  think  that  John  might  be  in  the  city 
without  a  place  to  lay  his  head. 

Love  to  all.  Yours  affectionately, 

Joanna. 


In  less  than  a  month  after  writing  this  letter 
Joanna  sailed  with  her  husband  to  the  West  Indies. 
Iier  departure  wa»  sudden  and  unexpected,  and  the 
prospect  of  leaving  her  beloved  home,  perhaps  for¬ 
ever,  and  going  to  live  in  a  distant  and  dangerous  cli¬ 
mate  caused  her  to  look  earnestly  to  God  for  direc¬ 
tion.  On  the  morning  she  sailed  she  opened  her  Bible 
at  random,  and  this  passage  met  her  eye:  “If  I  take 
the  wings  of  the  morning,  and  dwell  in  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  sea,  even  there  shall  thy  hand  lead  me, 
and  thy  right  hand  shall  hold  me.”  “This,”  said  she, 
“is  my  promise  !” 

During  the  long  voyage  she  was  in  fine  health  and 
spirits.  Arriving  at  Trinidad  she  and  her  husband 
were  happy  in  the  prospect  of  living  together  at  last 
in  their  own  home.  A  bad  fever  was  raging  in  the 


CONVERSION  OF  JOANNA 


327 


Island,  but  she  wrote  to  her  sister,  Mary  Mead : 
“Though  death  reigns  everywhere,  I  can  trust  God, 
and  am  mercifully  kept  in  peace.”  And  she  added: 
“I  think  just  as  I  did  when  I  left  about  the  great  doc¬ 
trine  of  Perfectionism,  and  could  never  feel  satisfied 
to  go  back  to  the  old  way.” 

Two  weeks  later  she  wrote  to  her  husband,  who  had 
been  unexpectedly  called  away  to  Porto  Rico,  that  .she 
had  suffered  a  slight  attack  of  the  fever,  but  was  then 
well,  or  nearly  so.  This  was  on  the  31st  of  May  1838. 
On  the  6th  of  June  she  was  stricken  again,  and  on  the 
14th,  before  her  husband  could  reach  her,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-nine,  she  breathed  her  last.  The  night  before 
she  died  she  sent  this  message  to  her  family  at  Putney : 
“Tell  them  I  am  perfectly  resigned  to  the  will  of  God 
in  this  trying  hour.  I  know  that  Christ  is  mine,  and  he 
is  precious  to  my  soul.  In  the  world  I  have  had  tribu¬ 
lation,  but  in  him  I  have  peace.” 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 


RAPPROCHEMENT  BETWEEN  NOYES  AND  THE  REFORM 

LEADERS 

About  the  middle  of  March  1837  Noyes  again  set 
forth  in  knight-errant  style  to  look  after  the  interests 
of  the  cause  in  other  fields. 

Noyes  to  His  Mother 

Newark,  N.  J.,  March  30,  1837. 

Dear  Mother: — The  course  and  end  of  my  journey 
were  according  to  my  expectations.  ...  At  Boston 
I  called  at  the  antislavery  office,  and  found  Garrison, 
Stanton,  Whittier  and  other  choice  spirits  warmly 
engaged  in  a  dispute  about  political  matters.  I  heard 
them  quietly,  and  when  the  meeting  broke  up  I  intro¬ 
duced  myself  to  Garrison.  He  spoke  with  great  inter¬ 
est  of  The  Perfectionist ;  said  his  mind  was  heaving 
on  the  subjects  of  holiness  and  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
and  he  would  devote  himself  to  them  as  soon  as  he 
could  get  antislavery  off  his  hands.  I  spoke  to  him 
especially  on  the  subject  of  government,  and  found 
him,  as  I  expected,  ripe  for  the  loyalty  of  heaven. 

In  my  passage  from  Providence  to  New  York  God 
gave  me  a  view  of  his  wonders  in  the  mighty  ocean. 
We  started  in  a  storm,  which  became  so  furious  that 
we  were  forced  to  lie  still  at  Newport  six  hours. 

328 


JOANNA 


(NOYIAS)  HAY  KS 


RAPPROCHEMENT 


329 


Again  we  put  to  sea  with  a  strong  gale  in  our  teeth. 
Our  boat,  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long,  reared  and 
pitched  like  an  unruly  horse.  The  people  staggered 
about  like  drunken  men.  It  was  a  new  and  appalling 
scene.  I  was  neither  sick  nor  fearful,  not  because  I 
trusted  in  the  strength  of  the  vessel  or  in  the  skill  of 
its  managers,  but  because  I  said  in  my  heart,  “The 
winds  and  the  waves,  the  steam  and  the  helm  are  in 
my  Father’s  hands.  I  am  exposed  not  to  the  fury  of 
the  elements  but  to  the  mercy  of  God.” 

After  two  days’  contention  with  the  waters  we 
arrived  safely  at  New  York.  Next  day  I  came  to  this 
place,  and  directly  found  myself  again  exposed  to  the 
mercy  of  God  in  a  new  way.  A  malignant  attack  of 
scarlet  fever,  which  is  at  work  in  this  place,  threat¬ 
ened  to  prostrate  me.  While  my  throat  was  sore  I 
took  nothing  but  cold  water  in  my  mouth.  By  the 
faithful  application  of  this  I  soon  put  out  the  fire  in 
that  quarter;  then  I  drank  milk  and  ate  oranges  and 
oysters,  as  I  had  an  appetite.  When  the  fever  burned 
I  soaked  my  feet  in  cold  water,  and  when  it  was  hot¬ 
test  I  stripped  myself  and  washed  my  whole  body  in 
cold  water.  So  the  fire  was  soon  extinguished,  and 
thank  God  I  am  now  at  the  end  of  a  week  better  than 
I  was  before.  I  walked  the  streets  every  day,  though 
I  was  thin  as  a  shadow,  and  pursued  my  studies  as 
usual.  I  am  glad  I  was  not  at  home  on  this  occasion, 
as  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  you  would  have  been 
frightened  and  nervous.  But  I  shall  teach  you  in  due 
time  to  laugh  at  diseases  and  so  conquer  them.  The 
same  God  who  cured  me  of  the  pestilence  shall  be 
honored  in  my  recovery  from  every  blow  of  him  that 


330 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


hath  the  power  of  death,  or  I  will  die.  The  dead  and 
dying  are  not  fit  to  be  physicians.  I  must  have  a 
deathless  doctor  or  none  at  all.  .  .  . 

Mr.  Smith  is  about  moving  his  family  up  the  North 
River.  I  shall  remain  with  him  a  day  or  two  longer, 
and  then  go  where  the  door  opens.  Probably  I  shall 
remain  in  this  region  till  after  the  May  anniversaries. 
I  am  sweetly  exposed  to  the  mercy  of  God  in  respect  to 
money  matters,  and  shall  be  till  the  spirit  of  the  Day 
of  Pentecost  reigns  in  the  world.  “They  that  wait 
on  the  Lord  shall  not  be  confounded  world  without 
end.” 

Finney-,  who  has  been  corresponding  with  some  of 
the  brethren  here,  sent  for  and  received  the  whole  of 
The  Perfectionist.  He  and  Leavitt  thought  at  first 
they  would  write  against  it,  but  concluded  to  let  it 
alone. 

New  York  is  heaving  on  the  subject  of  holiness 
and  of  money.  As  money  goes  down,  holiness  goes  up. 
This  great  people  among  whom  I  circulate  is  full  of 
the  elements  of  heaven  and  hell.  Those  elements 
cannot  long  remain  together.  Heaven  must  begin  on 
earth  soon  or  hell  will.  Thanks  be  to  God  the  event 
is  not  doubtful. 

Write,  if  you  please,  to  this  place.  Yours, 

J.  H.  Noyes. 

During  the  spring  and  summer  of  1837  there  was 
an  unmistakable  drift  toward  conciliation  between  the 
Perfectionists  as  represented  by  Noyes  and  the  church 
and  reform  leaders.  Noyes  on  his  part  made  over¬ 
tures  to  Gerrit  Smith,  and  even  went  so  far  as  to  offer 


RAPPROCHEMENT 


331 


on  certain  conditions  to  join  hands  with  him  in  push¬ 
ing  antislavery.  This  plan,  for  some  reason  which 
Noyes  afterward  thought  providential,  fell  through. 
On  the  other  hand  Gerrit  Smith  expressed  lively  inter¬ 
est  in  the  views  of  the  Perfectionists,  and  wrote  to 
Noyes  that  his  wife  had  long  endorsed  some  of  their 
doctrines.  At  the  same  time  signs  were  not  wanting 
that  Garrison,  Finney,  the  Beechers  and  other  lead¬ 
ers  of  public  opinion  felt  a  new  interest  and  convic¬ 
tion  on  the  subject  of  salvation  from  sin. 

A  few  days  after  his  interview  with  Garrison  Noyes 
wrote  him  as  follows : 

“You  said  your  mind  was  heaving  on  certain  mo¬ 
mentous  subjects,  and  you  only  waited  to  set  antislav¬ 
ery  in  the  sunshine  before  you,  turned  your  mind  to¬ 
ward  those  subjects.  Allow  me  to  suggest  that  you  will 
set  antislavery  in  the  sunshine  only  by  making  it  tribu¬ 
tary  to  holiness;  and  you  will  most  assuredly  throw  it 
into  the  shade  which  now  covers  Colonization,  if  you 
suffer  it  to  occupy  the  ground  in  your  own  mind  or  in 
others’  which  ought  to  be  occupied  by  universal  eman¬ 
cipation  from  sin.  All  the  abhorrence  which  now  falls 
upon  slavery,  intemperance,  lewdness  and  every  other 
species  of  vice  will  in  due  time  be  gathered  into  one 
volume  of  victorious  wrath  against  sin.  I  wait  for 
that  time  as  for  the  day  of  battle,  regarding  all  the 
previous  movements  as  only  fencing-schools  or  at 
best  as  the  preliminary  skirmishes  which  precede  a 
general  engagement.  I  counsel  you  and  the  people 
that  are  with  you,  if  you  love  the  post  of  honor,  the 
forefront  of  the  hottest  battle  of  righteousness,  to  set 
your  faces  toward  perfect  holiness.  Your  station  is 


332 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


one  which  gives  you  power  over  the  nations.  Your 
city  is  on  a  high  hill.  If  you  plant  the  standard  of 
perfect  holiness  where  you  stand,  many  will  see  and 
flow  to  it.  I  judge  from  my  own  experience  that  you 
will  be  deserted  by  many  of  your  present  friends ;  but 
you  will  be  deserted  as  Jonah  was  by  the  whale — the 
world  in  vomiting  you  up  will  heave  you  upon  the  dry 
land. 

J.  H.  Noyes.” 

Soon  after  receiving  this  communication  Garrison 
read  extracts  from  it  at  a  public  meeting  in  Rhode 
Island,  and  spoke  favorably  of  its  sentiments;  and  on 
October  20th,  1837,  he  published  it  in  The  Liberator, 
omitting  only  Noyes’s  signature.  The  impression 
made  by  Noyes’s  visit  and  letter  may  be  seen  in  the 
following  paragraph  from  a  letter  which  Garrison 
wrote  a  few  weeks  later  to  PI.  C.  Wright: 

“I  shall  endeavor,  Deo  volente,  to  be  in  New  York 
the  week  preceding  the  anniversary  meeting.  If  we  can 
find  time,  we  will  then  freely  interchange  our  religious 
views.  My  own  are  very  simple,  but  they  make  havoc 
of  all  sects,  and  rites,  and  ordinances  of  the  priest¬ 
hood  of  every  name  and  order.  Let  me  utter  a  start¬ 
ling  assertion  in  your  ear.  There  is  nothing  more 
offensive  to  the  religionists  of  the  day  than  practical 
holiness;  and  the  doctrine  that  total  abstinence  from 
sin  in  this  life  is  not  only  commanded  but  necessarily 
obtainable  they  hate  with  a  perfect  hatred,  and  stig¬ 
matize  entire  freedom  from  sin  as  a  delusion  of  the 
devil!  Nevertheless,  ‘He  that  is  born  of  God  cannot 
commit  sin,’  ‘He  that  committed!  sin  is  of  the  devil.’ 


RAPPROCHEMENT 


333 


.  .  .  ‘There  is  therefore  now  no  condemnation  to 
them  who  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  walk  not  after  the 
flesh,  but  after  the  spirit.  For  the  law  of  the  spirit 
of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  hath  made  us  free  from  the  law 
of  sin  and  death/  ” 

While  in  New  York  at  this  time  Noyes  heard  a  dis¬ 
course  by  Charles  G.  Finney,  the  evangelist,  which 
indicated  openness  of  mind  on  the  subject  of  salva¬ 
tion  from  sin,  and  wrote  him  a  brief  note  in  reference 
to  it.  Mr.  Finney  replied : 

“New  York,  April  3,  1837. 

“Dear  Brother  Noyes: — I  have  this  moment  re¬ 
ceived  and  read  your  letter,  and  thank  you  for  it.  I 
have  often  heard  of  you,  and  of  your  extravagances 
of  course.  But,  precious  brother,  I  have  learned  not 
to  be  frightened  if  it  is  rumored  that  anyone  has 
received  any  light  which  I  have  not  myself.  You 
speak  as  if  you  thought  it  doubtful  whether  I  would 
correspond  with  such  an  one  as  you.  Now  it  is  true 
that  I  have  supposed  from  report  that  you  carried 
some  of  your  views  too  far,  but  whether  this  is  true  or 
false  I  should  consider  it  a  great  privilege  to  possess 
myself  thoroughly  of  your  views.  My  engagements 
are  such  that  I  cannot  enter  into  anything  like  a 
lengthy  correspondence  with  any  one;  but  it  would 
give  me  extreme  pleasure  to  see  and  converse  with 
you.  I  have  inquired  after  you  this  winter,  but  have 
not  been  able  to  learn  where  you  were.  You  are  well 
acquainted  with  my  beloved  brother  Boyle.  I  had 
hoped  to  see  him,  and  have  a  full  explanation  of  his 
views,  but  believe  that  he  has  gone  west.  I  am  expect¬ 
ing  to  leave  the  city  in  a  short  time,  i.e.,  a  week  from 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


oo4 

today;  and  should  you  be  in  the  city  in  the  meantime, 
I  should  be  rejoiced  to  see  you  at  my  study  in  the 
Tabernacle,  entrance  95  Anthony  Street. 

“I  think  I  am  anxiously  inquiring  after  truth;  and 
although  I  am  at  last  aware  that  I  need  and  can  have 
but  one  teacher,  yet  it  would  be  a  great  satisfaction 
to  me  to  hear  from  your  own  lips  'what  thou  thinkest, 
for  as  concerning  this  way,  I  know  that  it  is  every¬ 
where  spoken  against.’  You  have  had  time  to  weigh 
and  turn  over  and  over  vour  past  experience  .  .  . 
and  have,  I  hope,  candor  enough  to  declare  the  whole 
truth  in  regard  to  the  present  state  of  your  feelings 
and  views.  I  have  heard  so  often,  and  as  I  supposed 
so  correctly,  that  you  had  been  deranged,  that  I  have 
believed  it.  I  do  not  mean  that  I  supposed  you  are 
so  now,  but  that  your  first  excitement  upset  you,  and 
drove  you  into  some  extravagances.  Now  brother,  I 
should  like  in  the  warmth  of  Christian  love  to  con¬ 
verse  this  matter  over  with  you,  and  learn  whether 
you  have  discovered  any  hidden  rocks  on  the  coast, 
and  dangerous  quicksands  upon  which  an  inexpe¬ 
rienced  navigator  is  in  danger  of  falling.  I  have  no 
fear  of  the  doctrine  of  holiness — perfect,  instanta¬ 
neous,  perpetual  holiness;  and  know  full  well  that  like 
justification  sanctification  is  to  be  received  by  faith, 
and  that  we  are  as  much  at  liberty  and  as  much  bound 
‘to  reckon  ourselves  dead  unto  sin’  as  unto  damnation. 

“I  am  reading  as  occasion  offers  The  Perfectionist, 
a  copy  of  which  I  have  by  me.  I  suppose  that  con¬ 
tains  your  views.  I  have  as  yet  read  but  little  for  want 
of  time,  and  must  defer  my  further  perusal  of  it  until 


RAPPROCHEMENT 


335 


I  get  to  Oberlin.  I  am  too  busy  to  write,  and  too  much 
exhausted  by  continued  conversations. 

“Your  brother, 

“C.  G.  Finney/' 

“Immediately  upon  the  receipt  of  this  letter/'  says 
Noyes,  “I  went  to  New  York  and  had  an  interview  of 
several  hours  with  Mr.  Finney.  Pie  received  my  con¬ 
versation  in  the  spirit  which  his  letter  manifests,  and 
I  rejoice  that  I  have  an  opportunity  of  publicly  testi¬ 
fying  that  the  candor  and  kindness  of  his  behavior 
toward  me  was  surpassingly  beautiful  and  refreshing. 
In  the  course  of  our  conversation  he  bore  witness 
repeatedly  and  with  warmth  that  he  perceived  in  me 
no  indications  of  insanity,  and  I  left  him  with  a  reani¬ 
mated  hope  of  gaining  for  myself  and  for  the  gospel 
which  I  preach  that  public  confidence  without  which 
testimony  is  powerless.  I  regarded  him  as  the  rep¬ 
resentative  of  a  large  and  prominent  body  of  profess¬ 
ing  Christians,  and  his  letter  as  an  expression  of 
friendship  and  a  demand  for  testimony  not  merely 
from  an  individual  but  from  the  most  efficient,  if  not 
the  most  numerous  division  of  the  American  church.” 

Still  another  indication  of  the  drift  of  influential 
sentiment  at  this  time  toward  Perfectionism  came  to 
light  years  afterward,  when  the  letters  of  the  Beecher 
family  were  published.  In  1837  Lyman  Beecher  was 
President  of  the  Lane  Theological  Seminary,  and  the 
recognized  dean  of  American  ministers;  and  his  sons 
and  daughters,  all  of  exceptional  ability,  were  engaged 
in  pastoral  and  literary  work  in  different  parts  of  the 


336 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


United  States.  To  keep  in  touch  with  each  other, 
scattered  as  they  were,  it  was  the  custom  of  the  family 
to  send  an  occasional  circular  letter,  each  member  on 
receiving  it  reading  the  communications  of  the  rest 
and  adding  one  of  his  own  before  sending  it  on. 
From  one  of  these  circular  letters,  written  in  1837 
and  quoted  in  the  Autobiography  of  Lyman  Beecher, 
we  take  the  following: 


Charles 

“Brother  George’s  Perfectionism  is  a  curious  mat¬ 
ter,  and  lies  in  a  nutshell.  That  a  Christian  can  be 
perfect  is  evident,  else  God  commands  impossibilities. 
Whether  they  ever  are  or  not,  who  can  decide?  Does 
a  man  think  himself  perfect?  Amen.  I  hope  he  is  not 
mistaken.  So  long  as  he  behaves  well,  let  him  pass 
for  immaculate.  If  he  does  not  behave  properly,  he 
deceives  himself.  If  you  ask,  ‘Have  I  attained/  I 
say,  Ask  God.  The  more  you  try  to  decide,  and  the 
nearer  you  come  to  an  affirmative,  the  more  probable 
is  it  you  are  deceived.  The  heart  is  deceitful;  who 
can  know  it?” 


Henry  Ward 

“I  wish,  George,  you  could  be  here  a  while  and  help 
me.  .  .  .We  have  grown  almost  strangers  to  each 
other  since  you  groped  off  to  Rochester,  and  I  would 
fain  have  some  of  our  long  talks  again.  As  to  Per¬ 
fectionism,  I  am  not  greatly  troubled  with  the  fact 
of  it  in  myself,  or  the  doctrine  of  it  in  you ;  for  I  feel 
sure  that,  if  you  give  yourself  time  and  prayer,  you 
will  settle  down  right,  whatever  the  right  may  be;  and 
I  rejoice  on  this  account,  that  your  judgment  has  led 


RAPPROCHEMENT 


337 


you  to  forbear  publishing,  because  after  we  have  pub¬ 
lished,  if  we  do  not  hit  exactly  right,  there  is  a  vehe¬ 
ment  temptation  not  to  advance  but  rather  to  nurse 
and  defend  our  published  views.  The  treatises  which 
have  had  influence  in  this  world  from  generation  to 
generation  are  those  which  have  been  matured,  re¬ 
thought,  re-cast,  delayed.” 

Professor  Stowe 

“Dear  Brother  George: — As  to  Perfectionism, 
Brother  Charles  ‘  ’spresses  my  mind  ’xactly,’  and  I 
trust  you  will  duly  appreciate  the  patriarchal,  paternal, 
grandfatherly,  and  most  judicious  counsel  of  Brother 
Henry.  Brother  Charles’s  advice  as  to  faith ,  and 
Brother  Henry’s  as  to  works  on  this  perfection  matter 
are  just  the  thing  according  to  the  best  judgment  of 
your  dutiful  brother.” 


George 

“I  am  quite  amused  with  the  sympathy  of  all  my 
brothers,  and  their  fatherly  advice  touching  Perfec¬ 
tionism,  as  if  I  were  on  the  verge  of  a  great  precipice; 
but  I  trust  in  Him  that  is  able  to  keep  me  from  falling.” 

On  his  return  to  Newark  after  his  interview  with 
Finney,  Noyes  was  sought  out  and  given  the  right 
hand  of  fellowship  by  Beman,  author  of  a  widely- 
read  book  entitled  The  Kingdom  of  God  at  Hand , 
and  by  William  Green,  an  intimate  associate  of  Finney 
and  husband  of  the  editress  of  The  Advocate  of 
Moral  Reform.  A  few  days  later  Green  invited  him 
to  his  house  in  New  York,  and  gave  him  a  happy  home 
for  several  weeks.  All  these  evidences  of  friendship 


338 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


and  favor  meant  much  to  Noyes  at  a  time  when  he  was 
accustomed  to  be  treated  as  a  dangerous  heretic  and 
an  outcast  from  society.  But  they  were  welcomed 
even  more  as  indications  of  a  spirit  of  candid  inquiry 
among  influential  people  on  the  subject  of  salvation 
from  sin. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 
establishment  of  The  Witness 

This  candid  and  friendly  attitude  on  the  part  of 
Garrison,  Finney  and  others  in  the  spring  of  1837, 
as  well  as  the  successful  formation  the  preceding  win¬ 
ter  of  a  substantial  Perfectionist  church  at  Putney  in 
spite  of  the  prevailing  anti-organization  ideas,  brought 
Noyes  to  the  opinion  that  the  time  was  ripe  for  a  new 
forward  move.  Accordingly  on  the  20th  of  August 
in  that  year  we  find  him  at  Ithaca,  New  York,  issuing 
the  first  number  of  a  periodical  called  The  Witness. 
This  proved  to  be  the  beginning  of  a  series  of  publi¬ 
cations  under  various  titles  extending  through  more 
than  forty  years. 

Extracts  from  the  Initial  Numbers  of  “The  Witness" 

I  was  led  into  this  region  by  many  singular  and 
manifest  tokens  of  God’s  will.  I  had  long  desired  to 
traverse  the  central  and  western  parts  of  New  York, 
because  I  regarded  them  as  the  birth-place  of  many 
of  the  mightiest  moral  and  political  movements  of  the 
times  in  which  we  live.  Yet  I  had  never  found  a  fit 
occasion  for  the  visit,  and  was  waiting  for  an  intro¬ 
duction.  Soon  after  my  residence  with  Mr.  Green  in 
New  York  City  Jarvis  Rider,  a  young  man  from 
Deruyter,  Madison  County,  New  York,  came  to  my 
boarding-house  desiring  conversation  with  me.  We 

339 


340  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

soon  found  each  other  to  be  kindred  spirits,  and  re¬ 
mained  together  many  weeks.  He  proposed  that  I 
should  return  with  him  to  the  west,  though  he  candidly 
confessed  that  his  reputation  would  be  of  small  ser¬ 
vice  to  me  even  among  Perfectionists.  After  my  con¬ 
fidence  in  his  integrity  was  established  I  cared  little 
for  the  infamy  attached  to  his  name,  knowing  that  all 
who  honor  God  will  be  honored  in  due  time,  and  con¬ 
cluded  to  accompany  him.  We  left  New  York  in 
company  with  John  B.  Lyvere  and  Abram  Smith; 
remained  a  few  days  at  Smith’s  residence  near  King¬ 
ston,  and  from  thence  three  of  us,  Rider,  Lyvere  and 
I  started  on  foot  for  the  west.  Though  we  had 
but  a  few  shillings,  we  hesitated  not  to  expose  our¬ 
selves  to  the  mercy  of  God  by  undertaking  a  long  jour¬ 
ney  among  strangers,  assuredly  believing  that  our 
employer  would  provide  for  our  necessities.  As  long 
as  our  money  lasted  we  fared  poorly.  Afterwards  we 
lacked  nothing.  At  evening  on  the  second  day  arriv¬ 
ing  at  Middletown  we  asked  a  man  for  the  liberty  to 
sleep  in  his  barn.  He  kindly  inquired  our  circum¬ 
stances,  and  instead  of  sending  us  to  his  barn  gave  us 
beds  with  a  supper  and  breakfast,  showed  us  his  farm 
and  garden,  and  sent  us  on  our  way  with  benedictions. 
His  name  is  Col.  Noah  Dimick.  The  third  evening 
we  were  treated  in  like  manner  at  Delhi  by  persons 
whose  names  I  know  not.  The  fourth  evening,  which 
was  Saturday,  we  arrived  hungry  and  weary  at  the 
west  village  in  Walton,  greatly  desiring  a  resting- 
place  for  the  Sabbath,  but  scarcely  thinking  it  possible 
to  find  such  hospitality.  As  we  sat  by  the  wayside  in 


ESTABLISHMENT  OF  “THE  WITNESS”  341 


sad  conversation  about  our  prospects  a  man  came 
toward  us  from  a  house  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant,  of 
his  own  accord  drew  from  us  a  statement  of  our 
wants,  freely  offered  us  the  hospitality  of  his  house 
for  the  Sabbath,  and  informed  us  that,  as  he  was  going 
to  Unadilla  with  two  wagons  on  Monday,  he  could 
carry  us  twenty-five  miles  on  our  way.  Here  we 
remembered  the  words  of  Jesus:  “When  I  sent  you 
out  without  scrip  or  purse,  lacked  ye  anything?”  And 
we  said,  “Nothing.”  This  man’s  name  is  Benedict. 
We  understood  that  some  of  his  neighbors  counseled 
him  not  to  harbor  us,  lest  some  mischief  should  come 
upon  him;  but  he  answered  them  that  he  would  do 
what  seemed  to  be  his  duty  at  a  venture.  On  Monday 
he  carried  us  to  Unadilla.  At  evening  as  we  were 
traveling  on  the  mountains  west  of  that  place  we 
applied  at  a  lonely  house  for  entertainment,  and  were 
joyfully  surprised  at  finding  a  family  of  believers, 
with  whom  Rider  had  long  been  acquainted.  They 
received  us  as  brethren  gladly.  After  remaining  with 
them  one  day  we  went  on  our  way,  and  in  a  few  hours 
reached  the  region  of  our  destination,  and  found 
friends  and  kindness  in  abundance.  I  have  related 
scarcely  a  specimen  of  our  “good  luck”  on  this  jour¬ 
ney.  Many  more  acts  of  kindness  might  be  men¬ 
tioned  ;  but  they  need  not  be  published  in  order  to  be 
sure  of  their  reward.  At  Genoa,  a  few  miles  from 
this  place,  I  found  a  friend  who  encouraged  me  to 
commence  a  paper  by  furnishing  me  with  the  means 
of  publishing  this  number;  and  since  I  have  found 
here  printers  who  are  not  afraid  to  suffer  a  heretic 


342 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


to  speak  for  himself,  I  rejoice  in  the  hope  that  I  have 
come  to  a  land  of  liberality,  a  people  who  allow  and 
love  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press.  .  .  . 

The  Witness  will  be  published  in  the  form  and  style 
of  which  this  paper  is  a  sample.  Its  character  will 
correspond  to  its  title.  I  present  myself  before  the 
Court  which  shall  hear  and  try  my  testimony  not  as  an 
editorial  adventurer  or  a  volunteer  champion,  but  as 
a  simple  witness  for  the  truth,  summoned  by  the  sub¬ 
poena  and  bound  by  the  oath  which  God  administers 
to  all  who  speak  in  his  name:  to  tell  the  truth,  the 
whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth  in  relation  to 
the  great  controversy  between  him  and  the  human 
race.  .  .  . 

And  now,  beloved  reader,  I  ask  you  not  to  become  a 
subscriber  to  this  paper  for  my  sake.  I  look  to  God 
and  not  to  my  subscription  list  for  support  and  coun¬ 
tenance.  ‘‘The  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire,”  but  he 
should  be  paid  by  his  employer,  not  by  his  fellow- 
servants.  ...  I  have  so  fully  proved  the  faithfulness 
of  my  employer,  that  I  have  not  the  least  anxiety  about 
the  future  either  in  respect  to  my  spiritual  or  temporal 
necessities.  .  .  .  As  a  witness  I  can  promise  for  the 
amount  of  my  testimony,  because  I  know  how  long  a 
story  I  have  to  tell;  but  I  cannot  promise  as  to  times 
and  seasons,  because  I  must  testify  not  at  such  regu¬ 
lar  intervals  as  I  or  my  readers  may  wish,  but  at  such 
times  as  the  Court  shall  order.  As  God  is  a  just  judge, 
I  know  he  will  never  order  me  to  testify  without  giv¬ 
ing  me  the  means.  Whenever  therefore  my  means  fail, 
I  receive  an  order  to  keep  silence.  But  I  am  fully 
determined  to  give  my  subscribers  sooner  or  later 


ESTABLISHMENT  OF  “THE  WITNESS”  343 


twenty-six  numbers.  ...  If  you  wish  for  the  paper 
without  money  and  without  price,  send  me  simply  your 
name.  If  you  prefer  to  pay  for  it,  send  me  your  name 
with  one  dollar.  If  you  dislike  both  of  these  modes  of 
subscription,  there  is  still  another,  which  I  myself  pre¬ 
fer:  to  wit,  send  me  your  name  with  a  gift  of  any 
amount,  more  or  less.  So  your  money  shall  be  a  love 
token  to  me,  and  my  paper  shall  he  not  an  article  of 
merchandise  hut  a  present  to  you.  I  can  buy  and  sell 
with  an  enemy,  hut  I  can  exchange  gifts  only  with  a 
friend.  ...  I  have  no  fear  of  failure  by  a  “run” 
upon  me  in  consequence  of  thus  opening  the  doors  of 
my  bank,  for  I  believe  the  time  is  not  distant  when  all 
who  receive  my  testimony  will  have  hut  one  heart,  and 
of  course  hut  one  purse. 

As  a  lover  of  Jesus  Christ  I  am  hound  to  serve  his 
people,  not  indeed  with  self-defeating  officiousness  but 
with  self-sacrificing  promptness.  I  shall  therefore  take 
for  granted  at  a  venture  that  there  are  many  who,  like 
Mr.  Finney,  “have  no  fear  of  the  doctrine  of  holiness, 
perfect,  instantaneous,  perpetual  holiness,”  who  would 
“like  in  the  warmth  of  Christian  love  to  converse  this 
matter  over,”  though  they  have  not  yet  professed  the 
attainment.  To  such  as  thus  “have  an  ear  to  hear”  I 
offer  my  service  with  a  joyful  willingness  to  commu¬ 
nicate  whatsoever  I  have  learned  about  the  “rocks  and 
quicksands  of  the  coast”  hv  several  years  of  perilous 
and  stormy  experience. 

I  confess  I  have  long  anticipated  and  desired  the 
ministry  upon  which  I  am  now  entering.  But  espe¬ 
cially  since  the  publication  of  The  Perfectionist  ceased, 
I  have  sought  the  opportunity  which  is  now  presented 


344  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

of  effectually  declaring  that  that  paper  does  not  “con¬ 
tain  my  views,”  as  Mr.  Finney  and  others  suppose. 
It  ought  to  be  known,  if  it  is  not,  that,  although  I  was 
several  months  connected  with  James  Boyle  in  the 
publication  of  that  paper,  I  held  but  a  subordinate 
office,  and  there  was  a  material  difference  of  sentiment 
between  us  from  the  beginning.  .  .  .  That  I  may  no 
longer  be  burdened  with  the  credit,  or  discredit,  of 
sentiments  that  are  not  my  own,  and  also  that  such  as 
are  disposed  may  have  the  means  of  ascertaining  cor¬ 
rectly  how  far  The  Perfectionist  ought  to  be  regarded 
as  allied  and  introductory  to  this  publication,  I  insert 
here  a  list  of  the  articles  written  by  me  for  that  paper: 
[Here  follows  a  list  containing  twenty  titles.]  For 
these  alone  I  am  responsible;  these  contain  at  least  a 
skeleton  of  my  present  views;  by  these  I  am  willing 
that  my  qualifications  for  the  present  undertaking 
should  be  judged.  .  .  . 

From  what  has  been  said  it  will  be  perceived  that  the 
object  of  the  present  publication  is  twofold,  first  to 
meet  the  demands  of  those  who  are  honestly  inquiring 
the  “way  of  holiness,”  and  then  to  combat  the  errors 
of  those  who  “hold  the  truth  in  unrighteousness.” 

The  Witness  will  not  be  confined  in  the  scope  of  its 
discussions  within  the  limits  usually  occupied  by  relig¬ 
ious  periodicals.  I  shall  regard  none  of  the  topics 
which  may  properly  interest  the  human  mind  as  for¬ 
bidden  ground.  I  have  long  traversed  unshackled  the 
broad  field  of  universal  truth,  and  have  learned  to 
scale  or  trample  down  the  fences  with  which  that  field 
has  been  disfigured  by  scientific  fools.  As  an  inhabi¬ 
tant  and  with  others  a  joint  proprietor  of  the  universe, 


ESTABLISHMENT  OF  “THE  WITNESS”  345 


I  will  not  be  robbed  of  the  right  of  universal  thought. 
I  shall  therefore  pass  and  repass  as  I  please  the  usual 
boundaries  of  technical  theology,  knowing  that  the 
theology  of  heaven  includes  every  other  science.  Re¬ 
garding  man  as  a  spiritual,  intellectual,  moral  and 
physical  being  I  account  it  the  proper  object  of  his 
existence  to  glorify  his  Maker  by  the  proportionate 
and  unlimited  development  of  each  of  these  depart¬ 
ments  of  his  nature.  With  a  single  eye  therefore  to 
the  glory  of  God  by  the  redemption  of  man  I  may 
properly,  nay  I  must  necessarily  examine  and  discuss 
not  merely  the  spiritual  and  moral  but  also  the  intel¬ 
lectual  and  physical  relations  of  mankind. 

Offenses 

“In  that  day  shall  the  deaf  hear  the  word  of  the 
book,  and  the  eyes  of  the  blind  shall  see  out  of  obscur¬ 
ity  and  out  of  darkness.  The  meek  also  shall  increase 
their  joy  in  the  Lord,  and  the  poor  among  men  shall 
rejoice  in  the  Holy  One  of  Israel.  For  the  terrible 
one  is  brought  to  nought,  and  the  scorner  is  con¬ 
sumed,  and  all  that  watch  for  iniquity  are  cut  off, 
that  make  a  man  an  offender  for  a  word,  and  lay  a 
snare  for  him  that  reproveth  in  the  gate,  and  turn 
aside  the  just  for  a  thing  of  nought.”  Isaiah  29 :  18-21. 

I  set  this  passage  at  the  head  of  my  paper,  that  I 
may  as  far  as  possible  forestall  and  prevent  offenses. 
I  know  that  the  meek  and  the  poor  in  spirit  will  find  in 
the  past  and  following  pages  food  convenient  for  them ; 
and  I  know  with  equal  certainty  that  such  as  watch 
for  iniquity  and  are  disposed  to  make  a  man  an 
offender  for  a  word  will  find  fatal  stumbling-blocks. 
To  the  first  I  bid  a  welcome  to  the  joy  which  God  has 


346 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


promised  them ;  to  the  last  I  cast  his  warning  and  his 
woe.  As  a  minister  commissioned  of  God  I  enter 
upon  the  service  to  which  I  am  called  with  a  long- 
pondered  and  fearful  conviction,  that  it  were  better 
for  me  to  sink  in  the  sea  with  a  millstone  about  my 
neck  than  to  offend  one  of  God’s  little  ones ;  and  I 
have  the  assurance  from  him  whose  bond  is  never 
broken,  that  I  have  given,  and  shall  give  “no  offense 
in  anything.”  If  any  stumble,  let  them  understand 
that  I  have  the  testimony  of  my  own  conscience  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  I  am  pure  of  their  blood;  that 
“in  simplicity  and  godly  sincerity,  not  by  fleshly  wis¬ 
dom,  but  by  the  grace  of  God,  I  have  my  conversation 
in  the  world.”  If  any  tremble  for  others,  though  able 
to  bear  my  plainness  of  speech  themselves,  let  me 
assure  them,  that  I  have  ascertained  by  much  expe¬ 
rience  that  persons  of  common  sense  are  not  so  dan¬ 
gerously  delicate  and  destructible  as  Satan,  their  adver¬ 
sary,  would  have  them  imagine,  that  the  meek  and  the 
poor  in  spirit  are  much  oftener  starved  than  stumbled, 
and  that  the  purity  which  cannot  bear  the  light  is  little 
worth.  For  one  I  am  determined  no  longer  to  heed 
the  carping  malice  of  scorners  or  the  whining  timidity 
of  the  fearful.  I  will  not  be  frightened  by  the  shadow 
of  a  stumbling-block  from  the  work  of  removing  the 
substantial  causes  of  offense.  The  pathway  of  God’s 
redeemed  is  blocked  up  not  by  the  imprudent  boldness 
of  his  witnesses  in  this  generation,  but  by  the  time- 
honored  falsehoods  of  his  enemies  in  the  generations 
of  eighteen  hundred  years,  which  make  the  simplest 
truths  seem  monstrous  heresies.  Shall  I  then  “shun 
to  declare  the  whole  counsel  of  God,”  because  for- 


ESTABLISHMENT  OF  “THE  WITNESS”  347 


sooth  my  testimony  in  displacing  sanctified  abomina¬ 
tions  must  necessarily  shake  and  terrify  and  offend 
those  who  cleave  to  them?  God  forbid.  I  will  rather 
lay  hold  of  the  pillars  of  the  Philistines’  temple,  and 
pray  God  to  “strengthen  me  for  this  once,”  that  I  may 
make  a  full  end  of  their  idolatry,  though  I  die  with 
them  myself. 

Causes  of  Suffering 

Incontinent  benevolence  is,  in  my  view,  the  cause 
of  a  great  part  of  the  sufferings  of  the  saints.  I  mean 
that  kind  of  benevolence  which  cannot  scrutinize  and 
reject  the  flatteries  of  hypocrites,  which  shrinks  from 
inflicting  the  just  penalty  of  guilt,  which  hopes  where 
hope  is  vain  and  therefore  injurious,  which  would  fain 
love  righteousness  without  hating  iniquity.  This  has 
been  the  chief  cause  of  my  sufferings.  By  reason  of 
ignorance  and  false  education  I  have  suffered  my 
heart  to  bleed  for  reprobates,  till  I  was  almost  too 
weak  to  do  any  good  to  God’s  people.  Such  benevo¬ 
lence  accomplishes  nothing  but  the  desolation  of  its 
subjects.  It  is  a  breach  in  the  spirit,  by  which  the 
heart’s  blood  is  poured  out  not  a  sacrifice  unto  God, 
but  a  libation  to  that  mother  of  abominations,  who  is 
described  as  being  “drunk  with  the  blood  of  the 
saints.”  I  judge  by  my  own  recovery,  that  God  is 
about  to  “bind  up  the  breach  of  his  people,  and  heal 
the  stroke  of  their  wound.” 

With  this  introduction  Noyes  lays  before  the  reader 
his  renunciation  letter  to  Charles  H.  Weld,  the  corre¬ 
spondence  by  which  he  broke  fellowship  with  Latou- 
rette,  a  description  of  the  character  and  career  of  T.  R. 


348 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


Gates,  and  the  story  of  the  Gates-Boyle  attack  on 
Paul.*  He  concludes  his  exposure  of  “ false  brethren” 
by  recalling  his  former  statement  in  a  letter  to  Boyle, 
that  “professors  of  orthodox  religion  in  this  day  fill 
the  front  rank  of  the  army  of  hell,”  and  saying: 
“Soon  after  the  date  of  this  remark  a  detachment  of 
Perfectionists  wheeled  about  in  the  midst  of  the  bat¬ 
tle  and  commenced  a  cannonade  upon  the  saints  of 
the  Most  High.  In  this  day  I  should  say,  'Professors 
of  perfect  holiness  fill  the  front  rank  of  the  army  of 
hell.’  Most  of  their  guns  however  are  silent,  having 
been  spiked  by  their  own  superstitious  zeal  against  the 
use  of  'Babylonish’  weapons.” 

The  third  number  of  The  Witness  concludes  with 
the  following  address : 

To  The  Reader 

Beloved,  as  I  am  a  Yankee  by  birth,  I  will  take  the 
liberty  to  guess  your  thoughts  after  reading  this  paper. 
Peradventure  you  are  saying  to  yourself :  “This  is  a 
strange  fellow.  What  to  make  of  all  this  cutting  and 
slashing  and  boasting  and  recklessness  I  cannot  tell. 
Is  the  man  seeking  his  own  exaltation  by  casting  others 
down?  Truly  he  has  chosen  a  strange  way  to  win 
favor.  I  fear  he  is  an  impostor.”  To  these  thoughts 
I  answer,  I  commend  you  for  your  caution,  and  shall 
rejoice  if  the  suspicious  appearance  of  this  paper 
increases  it.  Herein  I  differ  from  most  of  those  who 
say  they  are  apostles;  I  give  you  full  liberty  to  judge 
for  yourself,  exhorting  you  again  to  beware  of  false 
prophets.  If  I  fail  to  commend  myself  to  your  under- 


*  See  Chapter  XXIX. 


ESTABLISHMENT  OF  “THE  WITNESS’7  349 


standing  and  conscience,  I  ask  for  no  credit  on  account 
of  any  other  marks  of  apostleship.  If  a  man  raises 
the  dead  before  my  eyes  and  then  requires  me  to 
believe  that  two  and  two  make  five,  I  say  to  him, 
“You  are  not  an  apostle  but  a  liar,  and  the  miracles 
you  work  only  place  you  on  a  level  with  the  magicians 
of  Egypt  and  the  two-horned  dragon  of  the  Apoc¬ 
alypse.”  I  pray  you,  beloved,  to  “prove  all  things, 
and  hold  fast  only  that  which  is  good.”  Let  no  feel¬ 
ings  of  friendship  toward  me  color  your  opinion  of 
my  writings,  for  I  can  assure  you,  if  you  are  not 
already  assured,  that  my  works  and  yours  and  all 
others  will  at  last  be  tried  by  fire.  I  only  ask  for  time 
to  “make  a  full  proof  of  my  ministry”  by  the  tests 
of  the  gospel.  If  I  fail  in  this,  you  will  have  sufficient 
evidence  that  I  am  not  a  minister  of  God.  That  you 
may  have  boldness  thus  to  bear  with  me,  I  beg  you 
to  remember  that  antichrist  can  only  almost  “deceive 
the  very  elect” ;  “if  it  were  possible,”  is  the  expression 
used  by  Christ,  showing  that  their  deception  is  in 
fact  impossible. 

Whatever  may  be  your  reception  of  my  efforts,  you 
will  never  turn  me  from  the  labor  of  love  which 
God  has  set  before  me,  for  my  rule  of  action  is  Paul’s: 
“I  will  most  gladly  spend  and  be  spent  for  you, 
though  the  more  abundantly  I  love  you,  the  less  I 
be  loved.”  My  affection  toward  you  is  predominantly 
subjective,  and  therefore  not  dependent  on  objective 
encouragement.  The  love  of  Jesus  is  too  mighty  to 
be  foiled  by  indifference  or  rejection  or  even  enmity. 
Nothing  but  reciprocal  and  equal  love  can  assuage 
its  restlessness  and  absorb  its  energy. 


350 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


Since  one  of  the  chief  purposes  of  The  Witness 
was  to  provide  an  authoritative  statement  of  Per¬ 
fectionist  teachings,  Noyes  brought  forward  into  the 
first  numbers  of  the  paper,  either  by  explicit  refer¬ 
ence  or  by  reprint,  all  of  the  twenty  articles  which 
he  had  formerly  contributed  to  The  Perfectionist : 
and  in  the  course  of  the  following  summer  he  re¬ 
published  these  articles  in  the  form  of  a  pamphlet 
called  The  Way  of  Holiness,  which  he  sent  to  all 
his  subscribers.  In  this  manner  he  reaffirmed  the 
leading  doctrines  of  Perfectionism,  and  assumed  them 
as  the  basis  of  his  future  work. 


CHAPTER  XXXV 


RELATIONS  WITH  ABIGAIL  MERWIN 

Noyes  to  Abigail  Merwin 

Putney,  December  28,  1835. 

Dear  Sister : — Notwithstanding  the  evil  surmisings 
which  I  am  aware  will  arise  in  many  minds  in  conse¬ 
quence  of  your  receiving  a  communication  from  such 
a  person  as  myself  I  am  constrained  by  the  golden 
rule — “Whatsoever  ye  would  that  others  should  do 
to  you,  do  even  so  to  them” — to  address  you  with¬ 
out  ceremony.  I  know  too  well  the  power  of  the 
grace  of  God  to  believe  that  your  peace  has  been  ma¬ 
terially  disturbed  by  the  reports  you  have  heard  con¬ 
cerning  my  feelings  toward  you.  Yet  I  do  believe 
that  a  frank  disclosure  of  some  of  the  “many  things,” 
to  which  I  alluded  at  our  last  interview,  would  in 
some  measure  relieve  your  mind,  or  at  least  gratify  an 
innocent  curiosity.  I  would  not  stumble  any  of  God’s 
little  ones  by  premature  exposures  of  his  dealings  with 
me.  Rather  let  my  name  be  covered  with  infamy  for 
the  little  time  that  must  pass  before  the  kingdom  of 
God  shall  come.  Yet  I  love  the  light,  and  when  God 
permits  me  from  time  to  time  to  uncover  any  portion 
of  the  record  of  my  consciousness  and  memory,  I  taste 
a  joy  which  foretells  the  feast  which  will  be  spread 
for  us  when  “we  shall  know  as  we  are  known.” 

Let  it  be  distinctly  understood  at  the  outset,  that  1 

351 


352 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


intend  no  interference  with  any  earthly  engagement. 
I  dwell  where  “the  fashion  of  this  world  has  passed 
away,”  and  as  I  cannot  go  back  to  those  whom  I  have 
left  asleep,  so  I  have  no  desire  to  disturb  their  dreams 
until  they  shall  hear  that  voice  of  the  Son  of  God, 
which  will  effectually  break  their  slumbers  and  sever 
every  earthly  tie.  “A  bruised  reed  I  will  not  break, 
and  the  smoking  flax  I  will  not  quench,  till  God  shall 
send  forth  judgment  unto  victory.”  If  God  permits 
you  to  marry  another  before  his  kingdom  comes,  I 
will  say,  Amen,  with  a  whole  heart.  For  the  present 
permit  me  only  to  give  you  a  brief  account  of  my 
exercises  in  relation  to  you.  I  ask  you  not  to  conceal 
what  I  write  from  your  lover,  your  friends,  or  the 
world.  God  knows  I  am  not  ashamed  of  his  doings, 
nor  afraid  of  disappointment. 

Previous  to  my  acquaintance  with  you  my  heart 
had  never  yielded  to  the  claim  of  woman.  I  had 
devoted  myself  to  the  Lord  with  the  purpose  never  to 
be  married.  When  I  received  the  gospel  in  which  I 
now  stand,  that  purpose  with  many  other  positive  en¬ 
gagements  was  swept  away.  Before  I  saw  you  I  knew 
that  the  Lord’s  will,  not  mine  would  be  done  in  this 
matter.  In  the  darkness  of  that  memorable  period  you 
arose  like  a  morning-star  to  my  soul.  By  the  mani¬ 
fest  providence  of  God  we  were  thrown  together  in 
circumstances  of  exceeding  interest.  Continued 
acquaintance  increased  my  respect  and  affection  for 
you,  and  I  confess  without  shame  that  I  loved  you 
as  I  never  loved  another,  for  reasons  which  I  never 
saw  in  any  other.  In  these  circumstances  the  thought 
of  marriage  was  unavoidable.  But  remaining  self- 


ABIGAIL  MERWIN 


353 


suspicion  forbade  me  to  cherish  it,  and  I  remained 
waiting  on  the  Lord.  During  my  sufferings  in  New 
York,  among  many  other  similar  visions,  you  were 
presented  to  me  as  “Satan  transformed  into  an  angel 
of  light.”  I  instantly  tore  you  from  my  bosom,  and 
presented  myself  again  as  a  virgin  to  the  Lord.  I 
was  not  surprised  when  I  heard  of  your  departure 
from  the  faith.  But  I  believed  you  honest,  and  suf¬ 
fered  none  to  speak  evil  of  you  without  rebuke.  For 
many  months  subsequent  to  our  separation  I  longed 
after  you,  but  was  not  permitted  to  visit  you.  At 
length  in  the  midst  of  another  series  of  sufferings  at 
Prospect  I  saw  you  again  clothed  in  white  robes,  and 
by  the  word  of  the  Lord  you  were  given  to  me.  My 
assurance  that  you  would  be  mine  was  so  strong,  that 
I  scrupled  not  to  declare  it  openly.  At  the  same  time 
I  was  instructed  as  to  the  place  which  the  marriage 
relation  will  hold  in  the  coming  dispensation.  Thence¬ 
forward  I  have  been  with  you  in  spirit,  not  doubting 
that  you  will  ere  long  return  to  your  first  love  and 
dwell  with  me  in  the  bosom  of  God.  I  have  been 
compelled  to  walk  wholly  by  faith  and  not  by  sight. 
Outward  appearances  have  contradicted  the  testimony 
of  God,  until  your  enemies  and  mine  have  tauntingly 
asked,  “Where  is  now  your  promise?”  Still  I  have 
not  been  permitted  to  waver.  When  I  heard  you  were 
engaged  and  saw  your  betrothed,  I  anxiously  scru¬ 
tinized  again  the  grounds  of  my  faith,  lest  I  should 
wrong  an  innocent  man.  Thrice  like  Paul  I  besought 
the  Lord  that  you  might  depart  from  me,  and  thrice 
like  him  I  was  refused.  I  know  now  that  my  love 
for  you  is  the  gift  of  God,  pure  and  free,  above  all 


354 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


jealousy  and  above  all  fear.  I  can  say  of  you  to  my 
Father:  “She  was  thine,  and  thou  gavest  her  to  me; 
all  mine  are  thine,  and  thine  are  mine.”  Nothing  can 
shake  my  assurance  that  in  a  coming  time  you  will 
be  my  joy  and  crown — “a  diadem  of  glory  from  the 
hand  of  the  Lord.” 

In  thus  frankly  declaring  my  love  be  assured  I  con¬ 
fess  no  bondage.  I  can  tear  you  from  my  bosom  again 
at  the  bidding  of  God,  and  again  I  say,  if  you  are  per¬ 
mitted  to  marry  another,  herein  I  rejoice  and  will  re¬ 
joice,  praying  that  you  and  yours  may  be  blessed  of 
God.  Still  I  have  the  right  and  the  will  to  love  you 
as  the  workmanship  of  God,  as  my  sister,  as  my  neigh¬ 
bor,  as  myself.  I  ask  no  more  till  God  shall  make  you 
know  that  he  has  joined  us  in  an  immortal  marriage, 
and  that  what  God  hath  joined  together  man  cannot 
put  asunder. 

Your  brother, 

J.  H.  Noyes. 

The  defection  of  Abigail  Merwin  was  a  stagger¬ 
ing  blow  to  Noyes.  He  naturally  felt  that  before 
taking  such  a  radical  step  she  should  have  given  him 
an  opportunity  to  explain  whatever  might  be  troubling 
her.  He  did  not  however  immediately  take  the  initia¬ 
tive  in  seeking  her,  partly  because  of  distrust  and 
partly  because  he  felt  that  it  was  for  her  to  make  the 
advance.  Thus  the  six  months  of  his  service  on  the 
paper  at  New  Haven  slipped  by  with  no  explanations 
on  either  side. 

But  he  could  not  forget  her.  His  round  of  duty 
led  him  daily  across  an  open  park  on  which  fronted 


ABIGAIL  MERWIN 


355 


the  house  where  she  lived.  He  knew  her  window; 
and  his  feelings  of  bereavement  and  yearning,  espe¬ 
cially  when  he  passed  her  lighted  room  at  night,  were 
unutterable.  One  day  as  he  was  turning  a  corner  he 
met  her  face  to  face.  There  was  a  pause,  recogni¬ 
tion,  and  formal  greeting — nothing  more. 

After  his  change  of  view  at  Prospect  in  the  summer 
of  1835  Noyes  called  on  Miss  Merwin,  hoping  for 
reconciliation.  He  was  politely  received.  She  claimed 
to  be  still  a  Perfectionist,  and  to  have  confidence  in  his 
religious  character.  He  soon  called  on  her  again,  and 
had  much  conversation  with  her.  But  just  at  this  time 
reports  were  being  circulated  about  Noyes’s  conflict 
with  Charles  H.  Weld,  and  Miss  Merwin  seemed  em¬ 
barrassed  and  prejudiced.  Her  father  was  bitterly 
opposed,  and  told  Noyes  that  he  did  not  wish  him  to 
continue  his  attentions.  Noyes  never  saw  her  after¬ 
ward. 

Miss  Merwin  had  formerly  been  engaged  to  a  Mr. 
Platt,  and  after  the  interview  that  has  been  described 
she  wrote  to  him.  This  led  to  a  re-engagement.  In 
September  1835  a  friend  with  whom  Noyes  was  walk¬ 
ing  pointed  out  Mr.  Platt,  and  said,  “That  is  the  man 
to  whom  Miss  Merwin  is  engaged.”  It  was  a  dagger 
at  Noyes’s  heart.  But  he  recovered  himself,  and  al¬ 
ways  afterward  felt  reconciled. 

To  his  letter  of  December  28,  1835,  Noyes  received 
no  reply.  O11  the  other  hand  months  passed  and  noth¬ 
ing  came  of  Miss  Merwin’s  engagement  to  Mr.  Platt. 
It  even  became  rumored  among  her  friends  that  she 
was  still  unsettled  in  mind. 

The  following  summer,  while  Noyes  was  in  New 


356 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


Haven,  Boyle  mentioned  to  him  one  day  that  he  had 
received  an  invitation  to  take  tea  with  Miss  Merwin 
and  urged  Noyes  to  accompany  him.  Noyes,  suppos¬ 
ing  that  the  invitation  to  him  issued  not  from  Miss 
Merwin  but  from  Boyle,  of  course  declined.  Later 
he  had  reason  to  believe  that  Boyle’s  manner  of  pre¬ 
senting  the  invitation  was  a  “sort  of  devil’s  trick,” 
and  that  thus  an  eleventh  hour  opportunity  for  recon¬ 
ciliation  had  been  lost. 

After  this  Noyes  left  New  Haven.  At  last  in  the 
early  part  of  January  1837  he  received  the  long- 
awaited  news  of  Miss  Merwin’s  marriage.  Subse¬ 
quently  he  learned  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Platt  had  gone 
to  reside  at  Ithaca,  New  York,  where  Mr.  Platt  was 
engaged  as  a  teacher  in  the  Ithaca  Academy. 

In  a  dispute  with  his  mother  as  to  his  motives  in 
going  to  Ithaca,  Noyes  wrote  January  21,  1841 : 

“I  went  for  the  purpose  on  the  one  hand  of  starting 
the  paper  and  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  center  of 
New  York  State,  and  on  the  other  of  pursuing  and 
confronting  Abigail  Merwin,  who  had  deserted  her 
post  as  my  helper.” 

Home-talk  by  Noyes ,  April  9,  1851 

The  issue  between  the  faithfulness  of  God  and  the 
unfaithfulness  of  Satan  is  being  tried  in  the  case  of 
Abigail  Merwin.  I  came  by  Providence  and  her 
request  into  the  relation  of  pastor  to  her,  and  this  in 
a  more  solemn  and  decisive  way  than  I  could  by  any 
formality  such  as  the  churches  use.  This  relation 
imposes  duties  on  me  that  are  wholly  irrespective  of 
her  subsequent  choice.  If  God  placed  me  in  that  rela- 


ABIGAIL  MERWIN 


357 


tion  to  her  and  she  accepted  it,  she  cannot  break  it 
up  by  a  mere  change  of  her  feelings  and  will,  unless 
I  prove  recreant  to  my  responsibility. 

After  God  had  taught  me  the  faithfulness  that  never 
gives  up,  I  acted  faithfully  as  Abigail  Merwin’s  pas¬ 
tor.  I  held  on  to  her  and  sought  her  not  for  my  own 
pleasure  but  as  a  lover  of  her  soul.  I  called  upon  her 
until  her  father  dismissed  me  from  the  house.  When 
I  learned  that  she  was  engaged,  I  wrote  her  a  letter 
giving  her  the  best  word  of  counsel  that  I  had.  When 
she  married  and  moved  to  Ithaca,  I  followed  her.  I 
stayed  there  as  long  as  she  did. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 
reception  of  The  Witness 

Noyes  to  His  Brother  Horatio 

Ithaca,  August  19,  1837. 

Dear  Brother: — The  papers  I  send  you  save  me 
the  trouble  of  telling  you  long  stories  of  myself.  If 
you  think  them  worth  the  pains,  you  will  of  course 
distribute  them  among  our  friends  in  Putney,  and  send 
me  a  list  of  subscribers. 

You  perceive  I  have  the  prospect  of  being  stationary 
for  one  year  at  least.  This,  I  doubt  not,  will  be  a 
matter  of  rejoicing  to  you  and  to  all  who  have  bewailed 
my  vagabond  propensities.  I  am  situated  in  the  most 
celestial  part  of  a  most  celestial  village.  So  you  will 
say  yourself,  should  you  take  a  notion  to  come  here. 
If  my  business  enlarges,  as  I  have  some  reason  to 
expect,  I  shall  make  room  here  for  helpers,  and  I 
want  such  as  will  be  bold  and  firm.  I  merely  suggest 
this  for  consideration.  Perhaps  you  will  say  I  am  at 
my  old  trade  of  building  air-castles.  Be  it  so.  “Char¬ 
ity  hopeth  all  things/’  One  thing  is  certain:  I  am 
happily  embarking  according  to  the  manifest  will  of 
God  in  a  bona  fide  matter-of-fact  employment,  and 
“hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped  me/’  My  sky  is 
cloudless. 

Good-bye.  Yours  etc., 


358 


J.  H.  Noyes. 


RECEPTION  OF  "THE  WITNESS” 


359 


Mrs.  Polly  Noyes  to  Noyes 

Putney,  August  30,  1837. 

Dear  John : — It  would  be  useless  to  pretend,  that  we 
receive  intelligence  of  you  with  indifference  or  know, 
that  you  have  a  prospect  of  employment  that  is  agree¬ 
able  to  you,  without  pleasure.  The  last  we  heard  of 
you  H.  Brooks  informed  W.  White,  that  he  met  you 
in  the  park  at  New  York  apparently  poor  and  deserted. 
It  gave  me  pain  for  a  moment,  and  then  my  faith 
triumphed,  and  although  you  were  often  in  my  mind 
I  have  been  kept  in  great  peace.  .  .  . 

Your  paper  looks  well  for  the  progress  of  truth.  As 
I  am  abundantly  aware  that  no  efforts  according  to 
the  wisdom  of  this  world  will  do  anything  for  it,  I  feel 
as  if  my  strength  will  be  to  sit  still,  and  let  it  work 
for  itself.  .  .  . 

Horatio  is  expecting  to  start  for  Michigan  the  last 
of  September  and,  Providence  permitting,  he  will  come 
to  you.  As  it  will  be  very  convenient  for  me  to  send 
shirts  or  anything  of  that  kind,  I  shall  probably  send 
some,  unless  forbidden.  .  .  . 

Your  father  is,  as  you  would  suppose,  much  grati¬ 
fied  with  your  undertaking.  I  think  he  fails,  but  he 
is  much  engaged  on  his  farm  and  in  other  ways.  He 
says:  “Tell  him  to  be  cautious  in  money  matters.  A 
shoemaker  must  not  go  beyond  his  last.”  He  will 
send  five  dollars  now  for  papers  to  be  sent  to  Aunt 
Sophia  and  several  others  of  our  acquaintance.  .  .  . 
Besides  he  insists  on  keeping  two  numbers  not  to 
lend.  .  .  . 

I  saw  Mr.  Cutler  today.  He  thinks  there  will  be 
several  subscriptions  on  the  Street.  .  .  .  Morgan  was 


360 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


in  lately.  He  said  he  might  give  notice  that  he  would 
preach  next  Sunday.  I  doubt  his  qualifications.  .  .  . 
There  is  no  going  back  among  the  children,  but  not 
much  apparent  advance.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Palmer  and 
Mrs.  Clark  have  made  considerable  stir  in  their  way 
this  summer.  ...  I  think  a  new  era  is  commenc¬ 
ing. 

Your  mother, 

P.  Noyes. 


David  Harrison  to  Noyes 

Meriden,  August  24,  1837. 

Dear  Brother: — I  have  just  received  The  Witness , 
for  which  I  thank  God  more  than  for  anything  and 
everything  else  I  have  lived  to  see.  .  .  .  Dear  man, 
go  on !  My  prayer  is  for  you  and  all  the  elect  of  God. 

Yours, 

David  Harrison. 

Harriet  A.  Holton  to  Noyes 

Westminster,  Sept.  1,  1837. 

Dear — I  can  only  say  “brother”  with  feelings  simi¬ 
lar  to  those  a  child  would  have  towards  an  elder 
brother  arrived  at  manhood.  On  receiving  The  Wit¬ 
ness  I  felt  desirous  to  write  and  send  you  a  “love 
token,”  but  for  several  reasons  delayed  it.  Maria 
Clark  is  now  with  me  on  her  way  to  Boston  expecting 
to  go  within  a  few  weeks  to  Tuscaloosa,  Alabama,  to 
become  a  teacher.  .  .  .  She  needed  the  money  I  was 
going  to  enclose,  so  I  have  delayed  my  letter  until 
more  was  provided.  Mrs.  Crawford  speaks  of  some 
who,  “when  put  to  the  test,  are  found  wanting”;  yet 


RECEPTION  OF  “THE  WITNESS”  361 


I  know  there  are  those  who  in  casting  in  a  mite  give 
more  than  I  of  my  abundance.* 

Maria  says  you  are  situated  where  you  can  over¬ 
look  us  all.  I  believe  her,  yet  I  feel  a  desire  to  speak 
to  you  of  what  I  have  been  learning  of  late.  A  few 
weeks  since  I  was  emptied  of  that  kind  of  knowledge 
which  puffeth  up,  and  I  have  since  desired  to  be  filled 
again  only  with  that  which  edifieth.  ...  I  see  before 
me  a  heavenly  disinterestedness,  where  self-will  is 
slain.  ...  I  wish  to  be  reproved;  certainly  I  shall 
rejoice  to  receive  a  printed  letter  from  you  once  in 
two  weeks.  ...  No  matter  if  I  do  not  know  where  I 
am;  I  desire  to  be  made  what  the  Lord  would  have 
me  to  be. 

This  afternoon  while  thinking  of  receiving  The 
Witness  from  you  I  desired  that  your  spirit  might 
be  written  upon  my  heart.  I  ask  a  hard,  a  great 
thing.  Perhaps  I  may  be  laying  out  a  way  of  my 
own;  if  so,  I  know  the  Lord  will  overthrow  it  and 
choose  his  own  method  of  drawing  me  into  himself. 

Yours  through  the  gospel, 

Harriet  A.  Holton. 

Andrew  H.  Elston  to  Noyes 

Chittenango,  N.  Y.,  Sept.  1837. 

Dearly  Beloved  of  My  Father: — Having  no  money, 
not  even  enough  to  pay  the  postage  of  this  letter,  I 
ask  of  you  to  send  me  The  Witness  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord.  .  .  . 

Yours  in  the  love  that  never  faileth, 

^  Andrew  H.  Elston. 

*  In  this  letter  to  Noyes  Miss  Holton  enclosed  eighty 
dollars.— G.  W.  N. 


362 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


Mrs.  Polly  Noyes  to  Noyes 

Putney,  Sept.  8,  1837. 

Dear  John: — On  the  receipt  of  your  first  letter 
Horatio  presented  your  claims  to  one,  who  said  he  paid 
in  advance  for  The  Perfectionist,  and  received  but 
four  numbers.  This  rather  discouraged  him;  and 
besides  we  felt  the  influence  of  your  own  teaching,  not 
to  try  to  force  such  a  thing,  so  that,  although  many 
expressed  their  desire  to  take  the  paper,  nothing 
effectual  was  done.  Since  receiving  your  second  letter 
we  are  very  desirous  to  do  something.  For  myself  I 
can  say  I  have  no  fears  as  to  the  result  nor  as  to  its 
being  according  to  the  will  of  God  that  I  do  what  I 
can  to  promote  it;  yet  it  is  difficult  to  present  the 
ordinary  inducements  to  others.  Every  one  that  gives 
his  dollar  must  have  faith  enough  to  risk  it,  as  we 
cannot  give  any  assurance  that  he  will  ever  see  it  again 
or  another  paper. 

Your  father  would  be  willing  to  advance  any  sum, 
but  you  know  his  ideas  of  security.  He  thinks  the 
friends  of  truth  will  sustain  it,  but  it  is  such  a  new 
way  of  doing  business — to  buy  the  truth  and  sell  it  not 
— that  I  hardly  know. 

Hariet  and  Charlotte  are  gone  over  to  the  East 
Part.  Several  there  have  wished  to  subscribe.  While 
Horatio  and  I  were  consulting  as  to  what  was  best 
to  be  done,  I  saw  a  stranger  at  the  gate  with  a  budget 
under  his  arm.  He  came  to  the  front  door  and  intro¬ 
duced  himself  as  Mr.  Palmer,  your  brother  editor. 
He  inquired  quickly  for  you — had  not  heard  a  word, 
since  he  left  you  in  New  York.  He  is  at  this  moment 
in  the  parlor  reading  your  papers  and  letters,  as  much 


RECEPTION  OF  “THE  WITNESS” 


363 


interested  as  any  of  us.  His  testimony  concerning 
you  at  this  time  will,  I  have  no  doubt,  have  a  good 
influence.  He  says  that  Mr.  Green  is  prepared  to 
devote  all  his  property  to  the  Lord,  and  he  thinks  there 
is  no  doubt  the  paper  will  be  sustained. 

Enclosed  are  twenty  dollars  with  the  names  of  the 
subscribers.  .  .  . 

Your  mother, 

P.  Noyes. 

Noyes  to  Harriet  A.  Holton 

Ithaca,  Sept.  15,  1837. 

Dear  Sister: — I  will  tell  you  the  circumstances  un¬ 
der  which  I  received  your  letter,  and  you  may  judge 
for  yourself  whether  it  was  acceptable.  When  I  was 
about  publishing  the  first  number,  Jarvis  Rider,  expect¬ 
ing  to  be  at  Utica,  requested  me  to  send  him  twenty- 
four  papers  directed  to  that  place.  Utica  is  the  seat  of 
government  for  western  Perfectionism,  and  we  sup¬ 
posed  of  course  that  Dutton,  Patten  and  many  others 
there  would  welcome  the  paper.  I  sent  the  papers, 
but  Rider  was  compelled  to  leave  Utica  before  they 
arrived,  having  no  place  to  lay  his  head.  George 
Dutton  however  engaged  to  take  the  papers  from 
the  office  and  distribute  them.  After  waiting  several 
weeks  without  a  word  from  Utica  I  thought  it  expedi¬ 
ent  to  go  there  and  spy  out  the  land.  Accordingly 
on  Tuesday  I  took  the  stage,  arrived  there  at  night, 
in  the  morning  called  at  the  post-office,  found  the 
papers  and  my  letter  to  Rider  remaining  in  the  office, 
immediately  went  on  board  a  canal  boat,  and  returned 
here  by  way  of  the  lake  bringing  back  the  spoil.  On 


364  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

my  return  I  found  your  gift,  and  verily  it  was  like 
the  “bounty  of  Abigail.”  Now  “I  have  all  things, 
and  abound.”  My  heart  is  too  full  of  love,  joy  and 
peace  to  find  free  course  on  a  sheet  of  paper;  and  I 
have  long  since  learned  that  the  deepest  waters  make 
the  least  noise,  so  I  will  send  you  only  half  a  sheet 
and  trust  the  Lord  to  give  me  opportunity  of  proving 
my  gratitude  by  deeds. 

Yours  in  the  unity  of  the  Spirit, 

J.  H.  Noyes. 

Noyes  to  George  Dutton 

Ithaca,  Sept.  18,  1837. 

Beloved:-— -I  have  just  received  your  letter  to  Jarvis 
Rider  of  Sept.  3rd,  and  I  feel  disposed,  though  I  have 
never  seen  your  face,  to  write  you  a  few  words  about 
the  matters  of  which  you  speak.  You  probably  know 
before  this  time  that  it  was  by  no  fault  of  mine  that 
you  received  no  papers.  I  wrote  to  Rider  (suppos¬ 
ing  he  would  be  in  Utica)  for  the  same  purpose  which 
now  induces  me  to  write,  that  I  may  express  to  the 
Utica  believers  my  own  feelings  of  friendship  and  my 
desire  for  their  friendship  in  return.  When  I  found 
my  papers  and  letter  remaining  in  the  office,  I  thought 
it  would  be  useless  to  intrude  myself  upon  those  who 
had  thus  seemingly  scorned  my  advances.  But  since 
it  appears  that  some  mistake  caused  the  neglect,  I  thank 
God  that  he  has  kept  me  back  from  doing  that  which 
would  have  made  an  incurable  breach.  And  now  I 
ask  you  and  brother  Chauncey  and  Patten  and  all 
others,  to  whom  this  writing  may  come,  not  to  take  my 
paper  but  to  deal  with  me  in  a  spirit  of  forbearance  and 


RECEPTION  OF  “THE  WITNESS” 


365 


love.  I  know  full  well  where  “the  shoe  pinches.”  I 
have  long  been  a  stumbling-block  tc  all  about  me, 
because  I  have  so  exercised  the  nature  and  grace  which 
God  has  given  me  as  to  alarm  that  spirit  of  this 
world  which  “lusteth  to  envy”  and  excite  fears  lest 
I  should  be  exalted  above  measure.  I  expect  my 
future  course  will  be  still  more  offensive  than  the 
past.  God  is  calling  and  leading  me  to  an  eminence, 
where  I  shall  surely  be  an  object  of  the  hottest 
jealousy,  and  of  course  a  mark  for  the  archers.  I 
know  that  all  who  are  in  a  state  to  be  tormented  by 
my  prosperity  and  exaltation  will  ere  long  be  in  hell. 
But  I  would  most  gladly,  if  possible,  prevent  such 
results  by  any  explanations  or  concessions  which  can 
be  made  without  dishonoring  God,  my  husband.  If 
there  is  a  disposition  among  you  to  bear  with  me  till 
I  can  frankly  make  known  to  you  all  that  is  in  my 
heart,  I  know  I  shall  convince  you  that  I  “seek  not 
my  own  glory,  but  the  glory  of  him  that  sent  me,” 
and  that  I  walk  solely  by  the  rule  which  he  gives  me. 

Give  my  love  to  all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus,  and 
write  me,  if  you  please.  I  send  you  the  papers. 

Yours  in  the  Lord, 

J.  H.  Noyes. 

Mrs.  Polly  Noyes  to  Noyes 

Putney,  Oct.  i,  1837. 

Dear  John: —  ...  I  have  had  much  exercise  and 
experience  in  the  gospel  this  summer,  frequently  shut 
up  as  I  was  last  winter,  but  always  taught  and  ad¬ 
vanced  by  such  seasons.  I  confess  as  I  have  oppor¬ 
tunity  that  I  am  free  from  sin,  that  I  have  the  faith 


366 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


that  overcomes  the  world,  and  that  God  sustains  the 
confession.  Still  it  is  an  outward  teaching  of  the 
Spirit,  comparable  to  what  the  disciples  had  while 
Jesus  was  with  them  in  the  flesh;  with  all  his  power 
and  wisdom  they  were  not  inwardly  taught  till  after 
the  Day  of  Pentecost.  ...  I  rejoice  to  believe  that 
some  are  greatly  in  advance  of  myself,  and  likewise 
that  I  shall  not  be  permitted  to  rest  where  I  am.  .  .  . 

I  am  somewhat  confirmed  in  my  belief  that  the  gos¬ 
pel  in  its  fullness  has  been  received  by  but  few  from 
the  fact  that  many,  who  gave  a  more  decided  testi¬ 
mony  last  year,  do  not  seem  by  their  own  confession 
to  be  so  much  in  advance  of  others  as  they  were.  Miss 
Holton  said  in  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Crawford,  that  she  did 
not  feel  herself  in  advance  of  her.  .  .  .  Mr.  Palmer 
went  over  to  the  East  Part  twice,  and  said  of  them, 
that  he  thought  they  had  a  good  deal  of  faith,  but 
they  needed  discipline.  Pie  said  of  Miss  Clark,  that 
she  was  a  modern  miracle.  He  said  you  were  above 
ordinary  contingencies;  expressed  great  confidence; 
wished  much  Horatio  to  be  with  you.  Though  desir¬ 
ing  to  hear  from  you  before  he  left,  he  was  obliged  to 
depart  before  the  last  paper  came.  He  went  over  the 
hill  on  foot  towards  Albany.  .  .  . 

I  have  not  seen  any  one  since  the  last  paper  came, 
but  I  shall  be  mistaken,  if  there  is  not  a  sensation 
made  by  it  in  the  minds  of  some.  Your  father  says: 
“What  does  John  mean  by  thus  flying  from  one  thing 
to  another?  I  do  not  understand  it.”  Harriet  says: 
“I  have  read  it  over  four  times  already.”  When  I 
express  my  astonishment  at  your  temerity  and  uncom¬ 
promising  attitude,  Charlotte  says :  “He  has  faith  for 


RECEPTION  OF  “THE  WITNESS” 


367 


what  he  does.”  In  a  letter  received  yesterday  Mary 
writes:  “Mr.  Mead  says,  it  looks  rather  too  belliger¬ 
ent.”  Mrs.  Campbell  said,  she  knew  not  what  to  think 
of  the  third  number  at  first,  but  she  liked  it  better  the 
more  she  read  it.  Mrs.  Crawford  said,  she  liked  it 
very  much.  All  this  is  really  of  little  consequence  in 
view  of  what  is  your  dependence. 

For  myself,  while  I  am  not  wholly  free  from  feel¬ 
ings  on  your  account,  I  am  very  conscious  that  my 
only  way  is  to  set  my  face  fully  toward  the  Lord,  and 
not  think  of  husband  or  children,  though  they  are  re¬ 
moved  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  The  dec¬ 
laration,  “Woe  to  him  that  abolishes  the  law  of  the 
apostasy  before  he  stands  in  the  holiness  of  the  resur¬ 
rection,”  expresses  a  great  deal  and  fences  out  any  that 
might  take  advantage  of  your  liberty. 

Your  mother, 

P.  Noyes. 


Noyes  to  His  Mother 

Ithaca,  Oct.  6,  1837. 

Dear  Mother : — I  send  you  herewith  the  papers  you 
requested.  .  .  .  “Don’t  fret.”  God  knows  what  I  am 
doing,  and  so  do  I  in  part — enough  to  be  satisfied  that 
great  good  and  glory  is  to  be  the  result  of  the  strange 
work  which  he  is  bringing  to  pass  by  me. 

Mrs.  Campbell’s  testimony  concerning  the  last  paper 
will,  I  doubt  not,  be  the  testimony  of  all  the  pure  in 
heart,  that  it  “improves  by  acquaintance.”  This  is  the 
distinguishing  nature  of  God’s  works.  The  Bible  is 
like  a  chestnut  in  its  burr:  the  meat  is  inside  of  a 
“sword  turning  every  way.” 


368 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


As  to  my  circumstances,  I  have  paid  all  my  debts, 
even  to  the  first  loan  which  I  got  at  Genoa,  but  have 
only  money  enough  to  pay  my  board  for  one  week.  I 
shall  not  publish  any  more  papers  till  I  can  do  it  with¬ 
out  credit.  If  God  pleases,  I  am  willing  to  defer  pub¬ 
lishing  till  he  stirs  up  the  hearts  of  those  who  love  the 
truth  to  care  for  my  wants,  or  till  I  can  obtain  the 
requisite  money  by  my  own  labor.  Any  way  I  shall 
rejoice  and  be  content,  knowing  that  I  am  only  mak¬ 
ing  proof  of  my  ministry  by  suffering  afflictions,  neces¬ 
sities — yea,  and  stripes  and  death  for  Christ’s  sake. 
God  will  thus  make  us  white  till  the  time  of  the  end ; 
for  it  is  yet  for  a  time  appointed. 

Tell  Horatio  to  come  and  pay  his  debts  as  well  as 
collect  them.  I  want  to  see  him  awake  and  put  on 
strength.  No  half-way  wTork  will  stand  in  the 'day  of 
the  Lord  of  Hosts.  Let  him  and  all  others  be  sure, 
that  I  am  indeed  a  man  of  war,  and  let  them  say, 
Amen. 

Yours  in  Christ, 

J.  H.  Noyes. 


J.  II  NOYES 
Bergman 


1878 


CHAPTER  XXXVII 


FINAL  DELIMITATION  OF  SALVATION  FROM  SIN 

After  years  of  experience  and  study  Noyes  at  last 
redefined  salvation  from  sin  with  a  view  to  exclud¬ 
ing  legality  on  the  one  side  and  antinomianism  on  the 
other.  “Absolute  personal  liberty,”  he  said,  “is  essen¬ 
tial  to  holiness.  That  is  Paul’s  doctrine.  But  in 
Paul’s  doctrine  as  a  whole  there  are  a  thousand  safe¬ 
guards  against  antinomianism  which  the  liberty- 
maniacs  know  nothing  about.”  The  discriminations 
by  which  he  aimed  to  escape  this  Scylla  and  Charybdis 
of  religious  experience  may  be  seen  in  the  quotations 
that  follow,  and  in  the  chart  on  page  382. 

The  Law 

The  Witness,  January  1840 

In  the  epistle  to  the  Romans  Paul  sums  up  the  sys¬ 
tem  of  theology  which  he  calls  his  gospel  in  the  com¬ 
prehensive  saying:  “Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  for 
righteousness  to  every  one  that  believeth.” 

The  idea  of  the  law’s  coming  to  an  end  is  frightful 
only  when  disjoined  from  that  which  Paul  constantly 
connects  with  it,  namely,  consequent  righteousness. 
Persons  whose  experience  has  never  given  them  a  clear 
and  strong  conception  of  the  power  of  love  naturally 
imagine  that  the  end  of  the  law  is  necessarily  the  end 

369 


370  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

of  all  godly  influence  and  of  all  righteousness.  They 
see  not  the  spirit  of  love,  which  in  the  gospel  stands 
at  the  end  of  the  law,  and  the  transition  from  law  to 
love  seems  to  them  like  leaping  from  a  rock  into  a 
void  abyss.  The  transition  which  Paul  proposes, 
however,  is  not  from  a  rock  to  nothing,  but  from  a 
visible  “Slough  of  Despond”  to  an  invisible  rock  of 
strength.  *  1 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  abolishment  of 
the  Mosaic  code  is  not  the  abolishment  of  the  will  of 
God  that  men  should  love  Himself  and  each  other, 
but  only  of  a  particular  legal  form  of  expressing  and 
enforcing  that  will.  To  illustrate:  Suppose  the  Leg¬ 
islature  of  Vermont  to  be  annihilated  by  a  sudden  rev¬ 
olution,  and  its  whole  code  of  laws  to  be  thus  abolished. 
Would  that  be  an  abolishment  of  all  the  moral  truth 
contained  in  that  code?  Would  it  leave  the  people  of 
Vermont  at  liberty  to  steal  and  murder  with  impunity 
and  with  a  good  conscience?  The  nature  of  things 
remaining  the  same,  the  nature  and  necessity  of  vir¬ 
tuous  conduct  would  remain  the  same,  though  the 
authority  of  the  local  legislature  and  the  specific  pen¬ 
alties  of  their  code  should  be  removed.  So  the  abol¬ 
ishment  of  the  whole  Mosaic  institute  (which  as  com¬ 
pared  with  the  eternal  foundations  of  moral  truth  is 
but  a  local  legislature)  does  not  affect  the  value  and 
necessity  of  love  to  God  and  man.  But  it  enables  God 
to  approach  men  as  a  father  instead  of  a  law-giver, 
and  thus  by  love  and  truth  to  put  the  righteousness  of 
the  law  into  their  hearts. 

We  may  take  a  view  of  the  whole  matter  by  another 
illustration:  Suppose  a  family  of  children  in  the  ab- 


FINAL  DELIMITATION 


37 1 


sence  of  their  parents  is  subjected  to  an  imperative 
code  of  written  regulations,  some  of  them  founded  in 
the  immutable  nature  of  things,  and  some  of  them 
merely  temporary  and  circumstantial.  The  father  and 
mother  at  length  return  to  their  place  in  the  household. 
At  the  outset  of  their  personal  administration  they 
address  the  children  thus:  “Do  not  think  that  we 
have  come  to  set  aside  the  principles  which  have  hith¬ 
erto  directed  your  conduct.  Our  object  is  to  carry 
them  into  full  execution,  and  we  shall  do  this  not  by 
means  of  the  formal  statutes  which  have  heretofore 
been  your  rules,  but  by  our  own  personal  influence 
and  example.  We  now  abolish  the  written  code — the 
whole  of  it — and  call  upon  you  to*  look  to  us  for  direc¬ 
tion.”  In  such  a  case  it  might  be  said  in  one  sense 
that  the  law  of  the  household  was  established,  and  in 
another  that  it  was  abolished.  But  it  would  certainly 
be  foolishness  to  say  that  a  part  of  the  written  code 
was  established  and  a  part  abolished.  It  is  true  that 
in  the  new  personal  government  the  distinction  between 
that  which  was  necessary  and  that  which  was  only  cir¬ 
cumstantial  in  the  old  code  might  appear.  Essential 
moral  principles  might  be  insisted  upon  in  the  exhor¬ 
tations,  persuasions  and  example  of  the  parents,  while 
mere  formal  regulations  might  be  neglected.  Even  so 
Christ  and  his  apostles  transferred  the  vital  elements 
of  the  Mosaic  law  to  the  discipline  of  the  gospel,  while 
they  left  the  ceremonial  part  under  the  sentence  of 
abrogation. 

To  the  question,  what  then  is  the  purpose  of  the  law, 
we  answer: 

First,  the  law  was  an  enclosure,  which,  while  it  by 


372 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


no  means  purified  its  subjects,  yet  kept  them  within  the 
reach  of  God’s  influence  till  the  purifying  power  of 
the  gospel  could  be  brought  to  bear.  A  shepherd  pro¬ 
posing  to  wash  his  flock  first  shuts  them  up  in  a  fold. 
The  use  of  the  fold  is  not  to  wash  the  sheep,  but  to 
keep  them  within  necessary  bounds  until  the  shepherd 
can  take  them  and  wash  them  himself. 

Second,  the  Mosaic  code,  though  abolished  as  an 
instrument  of  government,  yet  stands  on  record  as  a 
glorious  development  of  truth.  While  we  cannot  give 
it  the  place  of  Christ  as  our  sanctifier  and  judge,  we 
may  still  interrogate  it  as  a  witness;  for,  though  we 
are  not  under  the  law,  we  are  under  love  and  truth, 
and  the  truth  contained  in  the  record  of  the  law  is  an 
important  part  of  the  instrumentality  of  the  gospel. 
Indeed  the  information  conveyed  by  the  law  concern¬ 
ing  the  holiness  of  God,  the  standard  of  character  nec¬ 
essary  to  man’s  acceptance  by  him,  and  the  wrath 
which  awaits  ungodliness  is  the  very  platform  on  which 
the  gospel  is  erected. 

Having  disposed  of  the  law  we  now  inquire,  what 
are  God’s  instruments  of  government  in  the  kingdom 
of  Christ.  And  first  of  all  we  name  the  love  of  God. 
In  the  life  and  death  of  Christ  God  set  man  a  perfect 
example  of  love.  That  example,  lifted  up  like  the  ser¬ 
pent  in  the  wilderness  in  the  sight  of  sinners,  is  a 
spiritual  power  far  mightier  than  the  law. 

Next  in  importance  is  faith.  By  this  the  love  of 
God  is  accepted  by  the  individual,  and  applied  to  the 
sanctification  of  passion  and  the  direction  of  outward 
conduct. 

A  third  influence  by  which  God  governs  men  in  the 


FINAL  DELIMITATION 


373 


kingdom  of  Christ  is  his  outward  word.  One  vehicle 
of  that  word  is  the  Bible.  But  the  principal  external 
agency  employed  in  the  Primitive  Church  was  that  of 
apostles,  prophets,  and  teachers.  The  chief  work  of 
these  was  to  bear  witness  of  God’s  perfect  love.  But 
it  is  evident  that  they  were  not  mere  witnesses.  The 
whole  record  of  the  New  Testament  exhibits  them  as 
commissioned  to  reprove,  correct,  exhort  and  watch 
over  the  church.  This  element  of  the  government  of 
love  has  been  extensively  confounded  with  the  law. 
Many  have  supposed  that,  because  we  are  not  under 
the  law,  we  are  not  subjects  of  exhortation  and  cor¬ 
rection.  The  fallacy  of  this  idea  might  be  assumed 
from  the  simple  fact  that  Paul,  from  whom  we  get  all 
our  anti-legal  views,  was  “instant  in  season  and  out 
of  season,  reproving,  rebuking,  exhorting,  with  all 
long-suffering.”  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  he  on 
the  one  hand  taught  believers  they  were  not  under 
law,  and  on  the  other  imposed  law  upon  them.  He 
evidently  saw  a  clear  distinction  between  the  gov¬ 
ernment  of  a  father  and  that  of  a  law-giver.  And  in 
fact  his  exhortations  and  even  commands  differed 
from  law  in  many  particulars.  In  the  first  place  they 
were  not  like  law,  dead-letter  rules,  but  like  the  words 
of  Christ  they  were  spirit  and  life.  Moreover  they 
did  not  depend  on  a  penalty  for  their  execution.  As 
they  were  living  words,  they  found  a  living  echo  in 
the  hearts  of  those  to  whom  they  were  addressed,  and 
obedience  was  not  a  matter  of  conscientious  constraint, 
but  of  spiritual  impulse.  Love  instead  of  fear  pre¬ 
sided  over  the  transaction. 

A  fourth  element  of  discipline  in  the  kingdom  of 


374 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


Christ  is  the  providential  application  of  suffering.  It 
is  evident  that  “fiery  trials”  both  of  a  temporal  and 
spiritual  nature  were  among  the  chief  agencies  of  edu¬ 
cation  in  the  Primitive  Church,  insomuch  that  Paul 
said :  “If  ye  endure  chastening,  God  dealeth  with  you 
as  with  sons;  for  what  son  is  he  whom  the  father 
chasteneth  not?  But  if  ye  be  without  chastisement, 
whereof  all  are  partakers,  then  are  ye  bastards,  and 
not  sons.” 

In  almost  every  instance  where  the  work  of  salva¬ 
tion  is  spoken  of  in  the  New  Testament  it  is  ascribed 
to  a  twofold  agency,  instruction  addressed  to  the  un¬ 
derstanding,  and  love  renewing  the  heart.  The  gos¬ 
pel  is  a  dispensation  not  of  love  alone,  as  antinomian 
Perfectionists  maintain,  nor  of  love  and  law,  as  lega1 
Perfectionists  maintain,  but  of  love  and  truth  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  word  of  God.  In  thus  conjoining  love  with 
truth  we  lay  a  foundation  for  all  those  measures  which 
were  employed  in  the  Primitive  Church  for  the  out¬ 
ward  education  and  correction  of  believers  and  make 
the  inculcation  of  sound  doctrine  a  full  counterpart 
and  safe  successor  of  the  law. 

Relation  between  Faith  and  Deeds 
The  Witness ,  October  27,  1840 

A  class  of  enthusiasts  early  appeared  among  Per¬ 
fectionists,  whose  grand  object  seemed  to  be  not  to 
grow  in  righteousness  but  in  testimony.  Beginning 
with  the  glorious  but  much  perverted  doctrine  that  our 
salvation  is  finished  in  Christ  these  wordy  champions 
made  themselves  and  others  partly  believe,  that  all  the 
victories  which  Christ  won  in  his  course  from  the 


FINAL  DELIMITATION 


375 


manger  to  the  throne  of  heaven  were  theirs  not  only 
prospectively  and  by  promise  but  presently  and  by  pos¬ 
session.  The  more  modest  believers  were  disposed  to 
make  a  distinction  between  salvation  finished  in  Christ 
and  salvation  finished  in  themselves.  They  saw  that 
salvation  was  finished  in  Christ  in  Paul’s  day  as  well 
as  in  ours,  and  yet  Paul,  blessed  as  he  was  with  all  the 
outward  and  inward  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  still  confessed 
after  years  of  experience  in  the  gospel  that  he  had  not 
attained  the  resurrection,  that  tribulation  still  awaited 
him,  that  his  ultimate  victory  though  secured  in  Christ 
was  yet  to  be  won  by  his  own  hard  fighting  and  good 
judgment.  To  all  such  suggestions  the  enthusiasts 
answered :  ‘‘Paul  is  no  example  for  us.  Lie  lived 
before  the  second  coming,  while  the  gospel  was  yet  in 
its  infancy.  We  take  Christ  as  he  is,  not  as  he  was 
in  Paul’s  day.”  Still  the  objection  would  return  in 
the  minds  of  some,  that  by  the  nature  of  things  our 
personal  agency  in  the  joint  transaction  which  secures 
our  salvation  remains  the  same  however  far  the  vic¬ 
tory  in  Christ  may  have  advanced.  Such  reasonings, 
however,  seldom  availed  to  break  the  delusions  of  those 
who  made  great  swelling  words  of  vanity  their  delight. 
They  insisted  that  all  that  was  in  Christ  was  in  them, 
and  denied  that  they  had  anything  further  to  do  or 
seek. 

This  kind  of  testimony  reached  the  crisis  of  its 
excess  in  the  latter  part  of  1835.  When  the  enthusiasts 
proceeded,  as  was  natural,  from  extravagant  words  to 
extravagant  deeds,  a  reaction  began.  Some  of  them 
fled  back  to  legal  piety,  some  became  sober  and  devoted 
servants  of  Mammon,  some  sought  refuge  and  excite- 


376  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

ment  in  the  reformations  of  the  day,  and  some  became 
insane. 

Ill-informed  persons  may  imagine  that  the  above 
is  a  description  of  the  whole  body  of  Perfectionists. 
But  I  have  had  an  opportunity  of  knowing  that  there 
are  and  have  been  from  the  beginning  some  sober  ones 
among  the  inebriates,  who,  while  they  believe  and 
rejoice  in  the  doctrines  of  Perfectionism,  are  slow  and 
cautious  in  their  application  of  them,  whose  object  is 
really  holiness  and  not  liberty  under  the  cloak  of  holi¬ 
ness,  who  think  more  of  deeds  than  of  words.  Believ¬ 
ers  of  this  sort  have  been  steadily  advancing  in  knowl¬ 
edge  and  strength,  while  they  have  seen  the  boasters 
around  them  again  and  again  scattered  and  cast  down. 

To  the  sober  I  may  address  the  language  of  exhor¬ 
tation  without  fear  of  offense,  and  to  them  I  say: 
Beware  of  boasting  Perfectionists.  Look  carefully 
for  that  hidden  treasure,  charity,  without  which  angel- 
tongues  are  nothing.  Remember  that  “the  meek  shall 
inherit  the  earth.”  Our  judgment  is  yet  to  come,  how¬ 
ever  much  the  vain-glorious  and  the  unprincipled  may 
believe  and  teach  that  it  is  past.  It  is  as  true  now  as 
it  ever  was,  that  they  who  may  justly  hope  to  have 
boldness  in  the  day  of  judgment  are  such  as  in  this 
present  time  fear  God  and  withdraw  from  the  dis¬ 
orderly. 

Justification  of  Human  Instrumentality  and  Material 

Means 

The  Witness,  August  20,  1837 

I  can  not  listen  to  the  counsel  of  those  who  condemn 
printing  altogether  as  though  it  were  necessarily  a  car- 


FINAL  DELIMITATION 


377 


nal  weapon,  because  I  perceive  that  their  exclusive 
love  for  instruction  by  the  immediate  voice  of  God 
would  wrest  from  my  hands  one  of  the  most  efficient 
means  of  commending  to  the  world  that  heavenly 
teacher,  whose  communications  they  justly  prize  above 
all  others.  Moreover  the  principle  which  rejects  truth 
on  account  of  the  form  in  which  it  comes  condemns 
the  Bible,  impeaches  the  apostles  and  prophets,  and 
charges  carnal  wisdom  upon  the  Holy  Ghost.  Such 
zeal  in  the  heedless  haste  of  its  escape  from  legality 
rushes  into  the  bondage  of  liberty;  as  if  a  captive  just 
released  from  prison  should  debar  himself  from  the 
privilege  of  reentering  the  prison,  even  for  the  purpose 
of  releasing  his  fellow-captives.  I  have  known  many 
persons  of  this  sort,  seemingly  honest,  though  verily 
superstitious,  who  furiously  preached  against  preach¬ 
ing,  and  wrote  against  writing,  and  printed  against 
printing;  who  manifested  their  zeal  against  legality  by 
legislating  imperiously  for  God  and  man,  commanding 
man  to  hold  his  peace,  and  forbidding  God  to  commu¬ 
nicate  his  will  by  any  other  agent  or  means  than  the 
Holy  Ghost.  But  I  have  not  so  learned  Christ.  The 
rule  by  which  I  have  long  been  constrained  to  walk  is 
this:  I  will  reject  and  counteract  error,  though  an 
angel  from  the  highest  heaven  preach  it;  and  I  will 
receive  and  obey  the  truth,  though  it  come  to  me  by 
the  mouth  of  a  devil  from  the  lowest  hell.  I  will  do 
nothing  by  my  own  wisdom  or  strength;  but  by  the 
grace  of  God  I  will  do  anything  which  may  edify  the 
body  of  Christ,  regardless  of  those  on  the  one  hand 
who  raise  the  hue  and  cry  against  fanaticism,  and  of 
those  on  the  other  who  denounce  all  human  agency  as 


378 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


carnal  and  “Babylonish.”  The  same  spirit  which 
would  forbid  me  to  print  a  paper  excludes  from  the 
church  of  Christ  all  reproof,  exhortation,  reciprocal 
instruction,  organization,  in  short  all  unity,  and  sets 
at  naught  the  dictates  of  common  sense  and  common 
charity. 

The  grand  argument  for  this  sweeping  renuncia¬ 
tion  of  instrumentality  is  its  supposed  tendency  to  exalt 
the  Creator  and  abase  the  creature  by  putting  away 
ordinary  means  and  leaving  God  to  work  in  some 
unprecedented  way  or  without  means  altogether. 
Against  this  I  contend  that  God  has  found  a  way  in 
time  past  to  work  his  will  by  means  which  commend 
themselves  to  common  sense,  and  even  to  put  honor 
upon  men  without  giving  his  glory  to  another.  He 
may  do  so  again.  And  further,  it  is  evident  that  means 
have  been  and  may  be  used  to  the  very  end  that  “all 
the  haughtiness  of  man  may  be  brought  low,  and  the 
Lord  alone  exalted.”  When  Paul  was  prostrated  on 
the  plains  of  Damascus  by  the  glory  of  Christ,  and 
asked  from  the  dust,  “Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me 
to  do?”  the  reply  was,  “Arise,  and  go  into  the  city, 
and  it  shall  be  told  thee  what  thou  must  do.”  Ananias, 
an  obscure  disciple,  was  chosen  to  teach  and  commis¬ 
sion  the  chief  apostle;- and  who  can  doubt  that  Paul 
was  more  abased  by  this  ordinary  and  humble  instru¬ 
mentality  than  he  could  have  been  by  a  direct  commu¬ 
nication  from  Christ  himself?  The  creature  stands  in 
greater  danger  of  exalting  himself  against  the  Cre¬ 
ator  when  he  insists  upon  receiving  only  immediate 
revelations  than  when  he  meekly  consents  to  sit  at  the 
feet  of  a  beggar  or  a  fool. 


FINAL  DELIMITATION 


379 


Security 

The  Witness ,  January  20,  1841 

“As  he  spake  these  words,  many  believed  on  him. 
Then  said  Jesus  to  those  Jews  which  believed  on  him, 
If  ye  continue  in  my  word,  then  are  ye  my  disciples 
indeed ;  and  ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall 
make  you  free.  They  answered  him,  We  be  Abra¬ 
ham’s  seed,  and  were  never  in  bondage  to  any  man: 
how  sayest  thou,  Ye  shall  be  made  free?  Jesus  an¬ 
swered  them,  Verily,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  Whoso¬ 
ever  committeth  sin  is  the  servant  of  sin.  And  the 
servant  abideth  not  in  the  house  forever;  but  the  Son 
abideth  ever.  If  the  Son  therefore  shall  make  you 
free,  ye  shall  be  free  indeed.” — John  8:  30-36. 

Christ  in  this  passage  addressed  persons  who  were 
properly  said  to  have  believed  on  him',  but  he  did  not 
regard  them  as  already  children  of  God.  They  were 
merely  candidates  for  salvation  from  sin,  and  after¬ 
ward  he  plainly  told  them  that  they  were  wicked  men. 

Nor  did  Christ  regard  mere  incipient  faith  as  a  sure 
pledge  of  salvation.  He  did  not  say  to  those  who 
believed  on  him,  “You  are  converted,  and  therefore 
your  salvation  is  secure.”  But  he  said:  “If  ye  con¬ 
tinue  in  my  word,  then  are  ye  my  disciples  indeed,  and 
ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you 
free.”  It  is  evident  from  the  subsequent  account  that 
many  of  these  believers  did  soon  fall  away  and  become 
bitter  enemies  of  Christ.  The  dividing  line  between 
those  who  have  security  of  salvation  and  those  who 
have  not  lies  between  those  who  are  free  from  sin  and 
those  who  are  not.  After  saying,  “Whosoever  com¬ 
mitteth  sin  is  the  servant  of  sin,”  thus  determining 


380 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


who  are  servants,  Christ  proceeds,  “The  servant  abid- 
eth  not  in  the  house  forever;  but  the  Son  abideth  ever. 
If  the  Son  therefore  shall  make  you  free,  ye  shall  be 
free  indeed.”  In  other  words :  “He  that  commits  sin 
is  in  a  servile  condition.  Like  a  literal  servant  he  is 
exposed  at  any  time  to  be  dismissed  from  the  house¬ 
hold,  and  must  ultimately  either  leave  it  or  become  a 
son.  A  son  has  a  natural,  perpetual  right  in  the  house¬ 
hold.  If  therefore  the  Son  of  God  by  the  revelation 
of  the  truth  shall  make  you  free  from  sin  and  identify 
you  with  himself,  you  shall  be  free  from  all  fear  of 
dismissal  from  the  household  of  God  ;  and  this  is  free¬ 
dom  indeed.” 

The  dispute  between  Methodists  and  Calvinists 
about  the  “perseverance  of  the  saints”  might  be  ad¬ 
justed  by  introducing  the  above  distinctions.  Meth¬ 
odists  prove  by  appeal  to  a  variety  of  texts  that  the 
promises  of  salvation  are  conditional.  So  indeed  they 
are  to  the  subjects  of  the  first  conversion.  “If  ye  con¬ 
tinue  in  my  word  ...  ye  shall  know  the  truth.”  This 
“if”  everywhere  confronts  those  who  are  in  a  state  of 
sinful  discipleship.  On  the  other  hand  Calvinists 
prove  by  appeal  to  an  equal  variety  of  texts  that  the 
promises  of  salvation  are  unconditional.  Again  we 
say,  So  indeed  they  are  to  the  subjects  of  the  second 
conversion.  “The  Son  abideth  ever.”  “Whosoever  is 
born  of  God  doth  not  commit  sin ;  for  his  seed  remain- 
eth  in  him;  and  he  cannot  sin,  because  he  is  born  of 
God.”  While  the  first  conversion  is  liable  to  failure 
because  it  is  chiefly  the  work  of  man’s  will,  the  second 
is  forever  sure  because  it  is  chiefly  the  work  of 
God. 


FINAL  DELIMITATION 


381 


The  Progressive  Nature  of  Regeneration 
The  Perfectionist,  December  1843 

In  like  manner  the  chief  dispute  between  Perfection¬ 
ists  and  the  churches  might  be  adjusted  by  recurrence 
to  the  above  theory.  On  the  one  hand  Perfectionists 
insist  that  the  primitive  believers  were  perfectly  holy. 
This  is  a  truth  which  can  never  be  successfully  assailed 
so  long  as  it  is  limited  in  its  application  to  those  who 
had  advanced  from  incipient  discipleship  to  a  full 
apprehension  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  On  the  other 
hand  the  churches  insist  that  the  primitive  believers 
were  carnal.  This  is  a  truth  equally  unassailable  if  it 
is  restricted  to  those  who  were  “babes  in  Christ.” 
The  mistake  of  Perfectionists  is  in  allowing  only  one 
class  of  believers  and  that  the  highest.  The  mistake  of 
the  churches  is  in  allowing  only  one  class  of  believers 
and  that  the  lowest. 

The  special  glory  of  the  Primitive  Church  was  that 
it  bridged  over  the  whole  chasm  between  a  sinful 
world  and  heaven.  It  was  not  a  starving  settlement  at 
the  foot  of  Mount  Zion,  where  men  only  hoped  to 
reach  the  top  after  death ;  nor  yet  was  it  an  armed  and 
frowning  fortress  on  the  top  of  that  Mount,  where  a 
favored  few  gloried  in  their  exaltation  while  they 
repulsed  from  them  a  world  of  sinners.  But  it  was  a 
“way  of  holiness”  reaching  from  the  very  foot  to  the 
very  top  of  Zion,  easily  accessible  to  the  world  at  one 
end  and  opening  into  the  glories  of  eternity  at  the 
other.  On  it  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord  of  every  grade 
of  faith  found  footing  and  help  for  their  whole  jour¬ 
ney  from  earth  to  heaven.  Wesley  and  his  associates 


TYPES  OF  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE 


Impotence.  Irresponsibility.  Salvation  from  sin. 


FINAL  DELIMITATION 


383 


almost  succeeded  in  reopening  the  way  of  holiness, 
but  they  failed.  Their  attention  was  directed  chiefly 
to  the  lower  end  of  the  road,  and  by  denying  the  secu¬ 
rity  of  the  highest  class  they  left  a  dismal  barrier  at 
the  upper  end,  which  broke  the  communication  with 
heaven.  The  erection  of  a  church,  in  which  perfect 
and  everlasting  holiness  shall  reign  at  the  center  while 
believers  in  every  stage  of  discipleship  shall  find  in  it 
a  home,  is  a  work  which  remains  yet  to  be  done ;  and  it 
must  be  done  before  the  kingdom  and  dominion  under 
the  whole  heaven  can  be  given  to  the  saints  of  the 
Most  High. 

The  conclusion  which  Noyes  reached  in  the  above 
paragraph  marks  the  transition  from  his  distinctively 
religious  experience  to  his  social  experience.  It  there¬ 
fore  marks  the  appropriate  point  for  bringing  the  pres¬ 
ent  narrative  to  a  close.  The  narrative  of  his  career 
as  a  social  architect  and  builder  will  be  taken  up  in  a 
future  book. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  PERFECTION  IN  CHRISTIAN 

HISTORY* 

In  the  foregoing  chapters  Noyes’s  conception  of  the 
apostolic  doctrine  of  perfection  has  been  presented. 
That  the  reader  may  obtain  a  view  of  Noyes’s  theory 
in  its  historical  perspective,  the  various  perfection 
theories  which  have  been  developed  in  the  Christian 
church  since  the  apostolic  age  will  now  be  briefly 
traced. 

Notwithstanding  the  large  space  which  the  doctrine 
of  perfection  occupied  in  the  minds  of  the  apostles,  by 
the  end  of  the  first  century  A.  D.  it  was  almost  forgot¬ 
ten.  In  the  writings  of  the  Church  Fathers  of  that 
period  we  find  only  vague  echoes  of  apostolic  teaching 
with  no  real  understanding  of  its  meaning,  and  it  is 
evident  that  all  vital  interest  in  the  subject  had  ceased. 
Our  starting  point  therefore  is  one  of  virtual  vacuity. 

With  the  opening  of  the  second  century  the  prob¬ 
lem  of  perfection  began  again  to  occupy  men’s 
thoughts,  but  it  had  become  so  far  altered  as  to  be 
unrecognizable.  The  Gnostics  held  a  doctrine  of  per- 

*  For  many  particulars  of  the  various  perfection  schemes 
the  author  is  indebted  to  the  summary  by  Frederic  Platt  in 
the  Encyclopaedia  of  Religion  and  Ethics,  article  Perfection; 
also  to  Rufus  M.  Jones’s  book  entitled  Studies  in  Mystical  Reli¬ 
gion. 


384 


DOCTRINE  OF  PERFECTION 


385 


fection  which  was  based  on  Oriental  dualism.  To 
them  perfection  meant  escape  from  matter,  which  they 
regarded  as  inherently  evil.  It  could  be  attained  by 
theosophic  contemplation,  and  had  no  necessary  con¬ 
nection  with  Christ.  This  mystical  non-Christian  con¬ 
ception  of  perfection  was  continued  by  the  Montanists, 
though  a  subordinate  place  was  found  in  their  scheme 
for  Christ.  They  taught  a  progressive  revelation, 
first  through  the  Old  Testament  prophets,  then  through 
Christ,  and  finally  through  Montanus,  who  according 
to  their  view  inaugurated  an  era  of  full  knowledge  and 
perfection.  To  the  Montanists,  as  to  the  Gnostics,  an 
essential  element  in  perfection  was  asceticism. 

The  Pelagians  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  cen¬ 
tury,  while  continuing  to  subordinate  the  agency  of 
Christ  in  the  attainment  of  perfection,  broke  com¬ 
pletely  away  from  the  mystical  point  of  view.  They 
taught  that  perfection  was  the  crowning  achievement 
of  the  human  will,  using  only  the  natural  means  of 
grace.  It  consisted  essentially  in  the  perfect  adjust¬ 
ment  of  the  human  organism  to  its  appointed  environ¬ 
ment,  and  was  to  be  sought  chiefly  through  education, 
although  the  teachings  and  example  of  Christ  were 
important  aids.  As  illustrations  of  perfection  in  the 
sense  understood  by  them  they  pointed  to  the  Old  Tes¬ 
tament  saints,  Abraham,  Noah,  Enoch  and  Abel. 

Augustine  in  the  vehemence  of  his  reaction  against 
Pelagianism  reinstated  Christ  as  the  prime  agency  in 
perfection.  Man  of  himself,  he  maintained,  could  do 
nothing;  divine  grace  working  through  Christ  could 
do  anything.  But  Augustine,  while  admitting  that 
perfection  was  possible  since  divine  grace  was  irresisti- 


386 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


ble,  nevertheless  taught  that,  sin  being  a  defect  which 
in  the  divine  scheme  worked  out  a  greater  good,  God 
had  restrained  his  grace,  so  that  no  person  might  attain 
perfection  in  this  life.  A  further  addition  to  the  ele¬ 
ments  of  the  problem  is  found  in  Augustine’s  idea  that 
divine  grace  was  wholly  dispensed  through  the  media¬ 
tion  of  the  church. 

Following  the  lead  of  Augustine,  for  nearly  five 
hundred  years  perfection  was  viewed  as  conformity  to 
the  laws  and  ordinances  of  the  church.  But  since  these 
laws  consisted  of  the  absolute  moral  law  scaled  down 
in  various  ways  to  the  level  of  fallen  human  nature, 
perfection  according  to  this  view  was  quite  possible. 
One  might  even  be  more  than  perfect,  and  by  works 
of  supererogation  lay  up  a  store  of  merit  for  others. 

In  John  Scotus  Erigena  (850  A.  D.)  perfection 
became  again  mystical,  as  in  the  Gnostic  system;  this 
time  however  not  dualistic  but  pantheistic.  His  cen¬ 
tral  position  was  the  absolute  unity  and  wholeness  of 
God.  Evil  was  merely  absence  of  God;  sin  merely 
ignorance  of  the  truth.  The  remedy  for  both  lay  in 
absorption  into  the  being  of  God,  by  which  all  deficien¬ 
cies  were  filled  up  and  disappeared.  This  idea  did  not 
immediately  bear  fruit  in  claims  of  mystical  perfec¬ 
tion,  but  lay  fallow  for  a  time,  awaiting  more  favor¬ 
able  conditions  of  growth. 

Meanwhile  there  was  a  recrudescence  of  the  dual- 
istic-ascetic  theory  of  perfection.  The  Cathari  in  the 
eleventh  century,  like  the  Gnostics,  believed  in  the  fun¬ 
damental  antagonism  of  spirit  and  matter,  and  held 
that  perfection  consisted  in  escape  from  everything 
pertaining  to  the  material  world.  With  this  view  they 


DOCTRINE  OF  PERFECTION 


387 


were  naturally  ascetic;  but  on  the  other  hand  their 
opposition  to  things  material  and  external  led  them  to 
reject  water  baptism,  the  Eucharist,  and  private  own¬ 
ership  of  property,  thus  foreshadowing  the  anti-legal 
views  of  the  succeeding  epoch. 

The  development  commenced  by  John  Scotus 
Erigena  was  continued  at  the  end  of  the  twelfth  cen¬ 
tury  by  Amaury  of  Bene,  who  taught  the  identity  of 
believers  with  Christ  through  the  operation  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  He  returned  also  to  the  Montanist  con¬ 
ception  of  progressive  revelation,  asserting  that  God 
the  Father  governed  in  the  Jewish  era  through  law, 
that  God  the  Son  governed  during  an  intermediate  era 
through  the  sacraments,  and  that  the  Holy  Ghost  in 
a  final  revelation  made  men  actual  members  of  Christ, 
and  thus  abolished  the  laws  and  sacraments  which  in 
the  preceding  eras  were  necessary  instruments  of  gov¬ 
ernment. 

A  popularized  form  of  the  pantheistic  teachings  of 
John  Scotus  Erigena  and  Amaury  of  Bene  became 
extensively  current  during  the  Middle  Ages.  The 
Beguines  and  Beghards,  and  the  Brethren  and  Sisters 
of  the  Free  Spirit  believed  that  God  was  the  source 
and  end  of  all  things,  and  that  every  person  by  eleva¬ 
tion  of  thought  could  so  open  himself  to  the  divine 
influx  as  to  become  all  God,  thus  attaining  perfection. 
A  prominent  element  in  this  pantheistic  perfection  was 
always  Amaury’s  idea  of  freedom  from  law.  Some 
even  adopted  the  view  that  a  man  who  was  thus  identi¬ 
fied  with  God  could  not  sin,  do  what  he  would :  either 
the  acts  of  his  body  were  God’s  acts,  or  they  could  in 
no  way  affect  his  spirit,  which  was  swallowed  up  in 


388  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

God — an  extravagance  which  led  off  into  antino- 
mianism. 

The  Anabaptists  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation 
may  be  mentioned  as  in  some  sort  claiming  perfection. 
They  returned  to  the  Augustinian  standpoint,  regard¬ 
ing  perfection  as  the  result  of  divine  grace  working 
through  Christ.  But  they  broke  away  from  Augus¬ 
tine’s  sacerdotalism.  They  sought  the  aid  of  divine 
grace  not  through  the  church  but  through  a  direct 
personal  relation  to  God.  They  also  made  much  of 
the  brotherhood  of  man,  some  of  the  groups  even 
going  so  far  as  to  institute  communism  of  property. 
Thus  they  gave  to  the  search  for  perfection  an  ethical 
turn,  which  was  distinctly  new. 

The  Familists  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  cen¬ 
turies  pushed  still  farther  in  the  direction  of  an  ethi¬ 
cal  perfection.  Their  founder,  Henry  Nicholas,  made 
a  special  point  of  seeking  a  perfection  which  was  not 
merely  imputed  or  forensic,  but  one  which  manifested 
itself  in  righteous  acts  done  by  the  individual  himself ; 
and  he  organized  his  followers  into  communities  with 
the  purpose  of  making  them  full  members  of  Christ. 
Antinomianism  however  had  already  appeared  in  some 
of  the  mystical  sects,  and  dread  of  this  led  the  Famil¬ 
ists  to  set  up  again  obedience  to  the  external  law  as 
an  essential  element  in  perfection. 

The  next  step  in  the  development  of  the  doctrine 
was  taken  by  the  early  Arminians  in  about  the  year 
1600.  They  asserted  the  possibility  of  perfection  in 
this  life,  and  based  it,  after  the  manner  of  Augustine, 
wholly  on  the  grace  of  God.  They  distinguished  three 
different  degrees  of  perfection:  first,  that  of  begin- 


DOCTRINE  OF  PERFECTION 


389 


ners;  second,  that  of  proficients,  a  state  of  uninter¬ 
rupted  progress  in  the  Christian  life;  third,  complete 
perfection,  in  which  sin  was  overcome.  Regarding 
this  last  state  they  professed  and  taught  very  little.  In 
the  Arminian  scheme  reaction  against  antinomianism 
gained  further  impetus,  and  the  possibility  of  “falling 
from  grace”  after  it  had  been  attained  was  for  the 
first  time  definitely  asserted. 

Following  the  Arminians,  the  Quakers  in  about  1650 
took  the  ground  that  a  regenerate  person  might  become 
so  dead  to  the  world  and  so  subjected  to  the  truth  as 
to  overcome  temptations  to  transgress  the  law  of  God, 
While  they  held  an  exceptionally  spiritual  view  of 
religion  and  for  that  reason  discarded  many  outward 
rites,  yet  they  believed  that  the  law  as  laid  down  in 
the  Scriptures  was  still  binding.  Like  the  Arminians 
they  admitted  the  possibility  of  “falling  from  grace,” 
and  they  asserted  also  the  possibility  of  a  further 
growth  in  grace  after  perfection  had  been  attained. 

In  the  eighteenth  century,  as  a  result  of  the  labors 
and  teachings  of  John  Wesley,  a  great  stride  was  taken 
in  the  doctrine  of  perfection.  Wesley  gave  sharper 
definition  to  phases  of  the  subject  which  before  had 
been  vague,  and  brought  into  view  for  the  first  time 
the  basic  importance  of  obedience  to  the  law  of  love. 
The  main  features  of  his  system  are  the  following : 

1.  Obedience  to  Christ’s  law  of  perfect  love  to  God 
and  man,  the  one  law  to  which  a  Christian  is  subject, 
is  what  constitutes  perfection.  It  is  consistent  with 
involuntary  ignorance  and  error,  and  hence  can  be 
called  sinless  only  if  sin  is  defined  as  a  voluntary  trans¬ 
gression  of  a  known  law. 


390 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


2.  The  law  of  love  however  is  not  a  mitigated  law, 
but  a  higher  law;  and  while  Christians  are  not  subject 
to  the  law  of  statutes  and  ordinances  in  the  old  exclu¬ 
sive  sense,  yet  the  righteousness  of  that  law  is  fulfilled 
in  those  who  are  obedient  to  the  law  of  love. 

3.  Perfection  is  viewed  from  the  Augustinian 
standpoint  as  wrought  in  the  soul  by  divine  grace 
through  faith,  which  is  in  itself  the  gift  of  God;  but 
the  Pelagian  insistence  upon  the  part  played  by  the 
individual  is  recognized  by  maintaining  that  this  faith 
is  never  given  unless  diligently  sought  by  all  the  out¬ 
ward  means  which  God  has  ordained. 

4.  While  the  actual  attainment  of  perfection  is 
regarded  as  necessarily  the  work  of  a  moment,  yet  it  is 
admitted,  as  in  the  Quaker  system,  that  there  is  a 
gradual  preparation  before,  and  a  gradual  growth  after 
the  moment  of  attainment. 

5.  At  first  Wesley  believed  that  perfection  once 
attained  could  never  be  lost;  but  he  learned  by  obser¬ 
vation  of  those  about  him  to  recognize,  with  the 
Arminians,  the  possibility  of  a  “fall  from  grace,”  and 
accordingly  retracted  the  earlier  statements  in  which 
his  original  view  was  expressed. 

6.  The  attainment  of  perfection  is  attested  by  a 
twofold  evidence:  the  internal  evidence  of  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  the  external  evidence 
of  entire  freedom  from  sin.  The  internal  evidence 
however  is  susceptible  of  intermission  and  of  vary¬ 
ing  degrees  of  certainty. 

7.  Perfection,  though  possible  in  this  life,  is  a 
rare  experience.  It  usually  comes,  if  at  all,  just  before 
death.  Wesley  advised  extreme  caution  in  making  a 


DOCTRINE  OF  PERFECTION 


391 


profession  of  perfection.  Those  who  ventured  such  a 
profession  he  admonished  against  the  dangers  of  pride 
and  fanaticism;  yet  he  favored  a  humble  acknowl¬ 
edgment  of  the  blessing  in  cases  where  it  was  enjoyed, 
in  order  that  the  glory  might  be  given  to  God.  Even 
then,  rather  than  a  specific  claim  of  perfection,  he 
advised  a  general  description  of  indicative  experience 
without  giving  it  any  definite  name.  It  is  doubtful  if 
Wesley  himself  ever  professed  perfection,  and  later 
Methodists  were  exceedingly  shy  of  making  such  a 
profession. 

The  New  York  Perfectionists,  as  we  have  said,  were 
Wesleyan  in  origin  and  resembled  the  Wesleyans  in 
nearly  all  of  the  characteristic  features  mentioned 
above.  Their  chief  contributions  to  the  development 
of  the  subject  were,  that  they  gave  to  the  doctrine  a 
more  prominent  position  than  any  of  their  predeces¬ 
sors,  that  they  were  more  free  in  professing  perfec¬ 
tion,  and  that  they  laid  more  stress  on  the  necessity  of 
faith  as  a  means  of  its  attainment. 

Notwithstanding  the  emergence  of  the  doctrine  of 
perfection  into  sufficient  prominence  to  justify  the 
name  “Perfectionist,”  all  the  advocates  of  per¬ 
fection  thus  far  considered,  however  much  they  dif¬ 
fered  as  to  the  relative  importance  of  the  doctrine, 
agreed  in  assigning  to  it  a  more  or  less  subordinate 
position. 

The  final  step  in  the  development  of  the  doctrine  of 
perfection  was  influenced  by  the  course  which  New 
England  theology  had  been  taking  for  nearly  a  hundred 
years.  Jonathan  Edwards,  the  founder  of  the  system, 
was  a  passionate  believer  in  the  Calvin istic  doctrine  of 


392  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

the  absolute  sovereignty  of  God,  and  in  the  ardor  of 
his  revulsion  against  Arminian  free  will  had  adopted 
the  philosophic  determinism  of  Locke.  Assuming  as 
his  postulates  that  there  could  be  no  such  thing  as  an 
uncaused  event  and  that  the  causes  of  actions  were  the 
motives  which  led  to  them,  he  argued  that  God  exer¬ 
cised  absolute  sovereignty  over  man  not  by  physical 
coercion  but  by  arranging  the  motives  which  deter¬ 
mined  his  actions.  Subsequent  New  England  thinkers 
felt  that  this  theory  virtually  destroyed  free  agency 
and  tended  to  paralyze  effort.  Consequently  there  was 
an  increasing  movement  among  Edwards'  successors 
to  emphasize  human  ability.  As  the  climax  of  this 
movement  Nathaniel  W.  Taylor  (the  “Dr.  Taylor”  of 
Noyes’s  Confession  of  Religious  Experience)  took 
the  ground  that  motives,  though  they  had  influence  in 
determining  action,  were  not  causative.  This  made 
man  again  the  efficient  cause  of  his  own  actions.  Dr. 
Taylor  and  other  revival  leaders  then  proceeded  to 
urge,  in  the  manner  of  Pelagius,  that  man  was  able 
perfectly  to  obey  the  law  of  God  without  the  aid  of 
grace.  From  this  position  Perfectionism  was  an 
obvious  deduction.  But  Dr.  Taylor  declined  to  take 
this  step,  and  when  Perfectionism  broke  out  in  the 
New  Haven  Seminary  under  his  ministrations,  he 
strenuously  opposed  it  on  the  ground  that  the  freedom 
necessary  to  the  highest  perfection  of  moral  govern¬ 
ment  might  lead  to  that  degree  of  sin  which  was 
actually  found  in  the  world. 

We  are  now  in  a  position  to  see  Noyes’s  theory  in 
its  historical  perspective: 

He  followed  the  line  of  Augustine  in  teaching  that 


DOCTRINE  OF  PERFECTION 


393 


perfection  was  the  result  of  divine  grace  dispensed 
through  Christ;  but  he  recognized,  with  Wesley,  the 
Pelagian  insistence  upon  the  part  that  must  be  played 
by  the  individual  so  far  as  to  admit  that  this  grace 
was  never  given  unless  earnestly  striven  for  through 
outward  means. 

He  agreed  with  Wesley’s  general  definition  of  per¬ 
fection  as  obedience  to  Christ's  law  of  perfect  love  to 
God  and  man,  a  state  which  was  consistent  with  invol¬ 
untary  ignorance  and  error. 

He  went  beyond  Wesley  and  approximated  the  posi¬ 
tion  of  the  mediaeval  mystics  in  the  completeness  of 
his  detachment  from  the  law  of  statutes  and  ordi¬ 
nances.  Wesley  in  theory  virtually  held  that  the  law 
of  love  included  the  statute  law,  and  in  practice  he 
and  his  followers  remained  almost  as  conscience- 
bound  by  the  statute  law’  as  the  legalistic  sects  from 
which  they  had  come  out.  Noyes  on  the  other  hand 
maintained  stoutly  the  freedom  of  mature  believers 
from  all  outward  law;  but  he  allowed  this  freedom 
only  to  those  who  were  genuinely  saved  from  sin,  and 
as  an  offset  to  law  he  brought  into  operation  the 
machinery  of  personal  leadership  and  mutual  instruc¬ 
tion. 

He  concurred  with  Wesley  and  the  Quakers  in  the 
general  view  that  there  was  a  gradual  preparation  be¬ 
fore,  and  a  gradual  growth  after  the  attainment  of 
perfection;  but  he  defined  more  clearly  than  they  the 
two-fold  agency,  spiritual  and  intelectual,  by  which 
regeneration  was  brought  about. 

He  agreed  with  the  New  York  Perfectionists  in  the 
fundamental  importance  which  he  assigned  to  faith  as 


394 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


the  means  of  apprehending  the  power  that  gave  per¬ 
fection;  but  he  insisted  upon  the  no  less  fundamental 
importance  of  confession  as  the  complement  of  faith, 
asserting  that  faith  became  an  active  principle  which 
secured  the  fulfillment  of  the  promise  of  perfection 
only  in  a  confession  which  left  no  way  for  retreat. 

He  accepted  Wesley’s  formulation  of  the  twofold 
evidence,  internal  and  external,  by  which  the  attain¬ 
ment  of  perfection  in  any  individual  case  was  attested. 

He  held  that  perfection  once  attained  was  forever 
secure.  His  teaching  on  this  point  resembled  the  Cal- 
vinistic  doctrine  of  the  perseverance  of  the  saints” ; 
but  he  differed  from  the  Calvinists  in  dividing  believ¬ 
ers  into  two  classes,  those  who  were  saved  from  sin 
and  those  who  were  not,  and  in  allowing  security  only 
to  the  former  class. 

He  reverted  to  the  Montanus-Amaury  theory  of  a 
progressive  revelation,  but  instead  of  regarding  relig¬ 
ious  experience  as  a  series  of  discontinuous  jumps  cor¬ 
responding  to  successive  revelations  such  as  those  of 
the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  viewed  it 
as  a  continuous  evolution  from  a  rudimentary  begin¬ 
ning  to  a  consummation  of  perfect  holiness,  first  in  a 
Jewish  dispensation,  then  in  a  Gentile  dispensation,  the 
second  coming  of  Christ  at  the  end  of  the  apostolic 
age  being  the  dividing  line.  The  fact  of  Christ’s 
past  second  coming  with  its  corollary  of  perfection 
attained  by  the  Primitive  Church  as  the  fruit  of  a 
complete  cycle  of  religious  experience  Noyes  believed 
to  be  the  chief  ground  of  confidence  that  perfection 
was  now  attainable. 

Finally,  he  looked  upon  perfection  not  as  a  mere 


DOCTRINE  OF  PERFECTION 


395 


appendage  to  other  more  important  considerations,  but 
as  the  focal  point  of  the  religious  life.  Consequently 
he  devoted  more  attention  than  any  of  his  predecessors 
to  studying  its  conditions  and  devising  practical  means 
of  its  attainment. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX 

GENERAL  VIEW  OF  NOYESES  THEOLOGY 

Having  reached  the  conclusion  that  the  teachings 
of  the  church  were  erroneous  upon  two  subjects  of 
such  vital  importance  as  the  second  coming  of  Christ 
and  salvation  from  sin,  Noyes  could  not  feel  confidence 
in  his  theological  foundations  until  he  had  reexamined 
all  the  traditional  creeds.  For  three  and  a  half  years 
following  his  conversion  to  Perfectionism  he  was 
wholly  absorbed  in  the  initial  development  of  the  new 
faith,  and  the  task  of  theological  reconstruction  was 
necessarily  postponed.  But  in  August  1837,  as  we 
have  seen,  he  commenced  the  publication  of  The  Wit¬ 
ness,  and  in  this  and  in  subsequent  periodicals  during 
the  next  ten  years  he  worked  out  a  system  of  theology 
which  may  fairly  be  called  complete.  The  various 
articles  embodying  his  beliefs  were  collected  and  pub 
lished  in  1847  in  a  book  of  five  hundred  pages  entitled 
The  Berean.  From  this  volume  the  following  out¬ 
line  is  derived: 

/.  The  Ultimate  Ground  of  Faith. 

There  are  several  kinds  of  belief,  a  belief  of  the 
imagination,  of  testimony,  of  the  reason,  and  of  the 
senses.  Besides  these  there  is  another  kind,  which 
may  be  called  spiritual  belief.  One  spirit  can  present 
itself  to  the  perceptions  of  another,  and  communicate 

396 


GENERAL  VIEW 


397 


thoughts  and  persuasions  without  the  intervention  of 
imagination,  testimony,  reasoning,  or  the  senses. 

While  we  duly  value  all  the  lower  evidences  of  Bible- 
religion,  we  are  convinced  that  the  belief  which  is 
caused  by  these  evidences  is  but  the  precursor  and  aux¬ 
iliary  of  spiritual  belief.  Here  is  the  advantage  which 
the  believer  in  God  may  claim  over  all  other  disciples 
of  truth.  From  all  the  sophistries  of  “the  disputers  of 
this  world”  he  can  appeal  to  the  evidence  of  his  own 
internal  perceptions. 

The  process  by  which  believers  usually  arrive  at  a 
solid  assurance  of  the  existence  of  God  is  this:  First 
they  hear  of  him  from  their  parents  and  teachers  (and 
it  has  been  God’s  care  from  the  beginning  to  provide 
this  first  means  of  instruction).  Thus  their  minds  are 
preoccupied  with  a  persuasion  of  his  existence.  Then 
they  read  the  book,  which  contains  the  record  of  his 
past  manifestations  to  mankind  and  gives  them  direc¬ 
tions  for  approaching  him.  Finally  they  follow  those 
directions  and  ascertain  that  there  is  a  God  by  actual 
communion  with  him. 

IL  The  Bible. 

As  the  Bible  is  the  record  of  God’s  past  communi¬ 
cations  with  men,  so  it  is  the  most  valuable  external 
means  of  his  continued  communications.  The  primi¬ 
tive  gospel,  opened  by  the  atonement,  is  kept  open  to 
the  world  not  by  a  church,  nor  a  set  of  ordinances,  nor 
a  line  of  successors  to  the  apostles,  but  by  the  Bible. 
By  the  Bible  Christ  and  the  apostles  yet  live  and  speak 
on  earth. 

The  Bible  being  the  representative  of  Christ’s  king- 


398 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


dom  in  the  world  has  been  the  center  of  conflict  between 
the  powers  of  good  and  evil. 

The  Jews  kept  God’s  records  till  the  advent  of 
Christ.  They  refused  to  take  charge  of  the  New  Tes¬ 
tament,  and  he  gave  their  office  to  the  Roman  Church. 
The  new  secretary  kept  the  Bible  safely,  but  he  “kept 
it  laid  up  in  a  napkin.”  The  Reformation  gave  the 
Bible  into  the  hands  of  the  Protestant  churches,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  invention  of  printing  made  its 
suppression  thenceforth  impossible.  The  Protestant 
churches  have  drawn  the  Bible  to  and  fro  in  their  sec¬ 
tarian  differences,  but  it  must  be  acknowledged  to  their 
honor  that  thev  have  cherished  a  zeal  for  biblical  inves- 

J 

tigation  and  have  scattered  the  Bible  without  comment 
over  a  great  part  of  the  earth. 

The  Old  Testament  as  it  is  today  existed  when 
Christ  was  on  earth,  and  he  assumed  it  as  the  basis 
of  his  own  religious  system.  The  New  Testament  is 
the  work  of  his  accredited  agents.  The  Bible  therefore 
will  stand  or  fall  with  Christ,  and  Christ  will  stand 
or  fall  with  the  Bible.  Whoever  loves  Christ  loves  the 
Bible  as  a  whole  and  knows  that  it  is  a  vehicle  of  light 
and  life. 


III.  The  Guide  of  Interpretation. 

Having  ascertained  that  the  Bible  is  the  word  of 
God,  the  question  arises,  who  shall  be  our  instructor 
in  that  word.  The  Catholic  answers,  the  church  by  its 
traditions  and  the  teachings  of  its  priests.  The  Prot¬ 
estant  answers,  we  need  no  instructor;  the  Bible  itself 
is  the  sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  practice.  We  answer, 
inspiration. 


GENERAL  VIEW 


399 


It  should  be  presumed  that  God,  if  he  has  given  the 
world  a  book,  has  also  provided  an  interpreter.  Ac¬ 
cordingly  we  find  that  the  Bible  itself  plainly  directs 
us  to  inspiration  as  the  ultimate  guide  of  faith. 

We  are  not  among  those  who  refer  everything  to 
spiritual  influence.  It  is  true  of  the  interpreter  of  the 
Bible  that  the  more  knowledge  he  has  the  better.  But 
we  believe  that  divine  illumination  and  spiritual  expe¬ 
rience  are  by  far  the  most  essential  qualifications  for 
interpreting  the  word  of  God.  The  Bible  is  no  revela¬ 
tion  to  those  who  can  not  read;  it  is  a  revelation  of 
certain  introductory  truths  to  those  who  can  only  read ; 
it  is  a  revelation  of  much  curious  wisdom  to  those  who 
can  read  with  the  help  of  human  learning ;  it  is  a  reve¬ 
lation  of  the  deep  things  of  God  to  those  who  can  read 
with  the  help  of  inspiration. 

TV.  The  Origin  of  Evil. 

The  ultimate  cause  of  all  evil  is  an  uncreated  evil 
being,  as  Fhe  ultimate-cause  of  all  good  is  an  uncre¬ 
ated  good  being. 

If  it  be  said  that  evil  is  nothing  but  good  in  dis¬ 
guise,  we  answer  that  no  evil  is  good  or  can  be  turned 
to  good  in  any  other  than  a  relative  sense.  Inocula¬ 
tion  for  the  kine-pox  is  good  because  it  is  a  preventive 
of  the  small-pox.  But  if  there  were  no  small-pox,  men 
would  "not  take  the  kine-pox  and  call  it  good.  The 
chastisements  which  men  suffer  from  the  hand  of  God 
are  good  as  being  curatives  or  preventives  of  greater 
moral  miseries,  but  in  any  other  sense  they  are  only 
evil. 

Furthermore,  the  theory  that  evil  is  a  legitimate 


400 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


necessary  product  of  God’s!  benevolence  is  not  in  har¬ 
mony  with  the  sincerity  which  we  have  learned  to  look 
for  in  his  character.  We  find  God  in  all  his  recorded 
dealings  with  men  vehemently  resisting  evil  by  word 
and  deed.  Now  to  suppose,  that  with  all  this  appear¬ 
ance  of  single-eyed  goodness  he  decreed  or  permitted 
the  birth  of  evil  and  regards  it  as  the  means  of  the 
greatest  good,  is  to  make  him  a  double-dealer  un¬ 
worthy  of  confidence  and  love. 

The  existence  and  antagonism  of  good  and  evil  are 
not  the  results  but  the  antecedents  and  motives  of 
God’s  purpose  in  creation.  The  universe  was  mani¬ 
festly  created  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  a  battle¬ 
field  whereon  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Devil  might 
come  to  a  decisive  conflict.  From  the  fact  that  God 
might  have  abstained  from  creation  it  follows  that  his 
purpose  in  a  certain  sense  extends  to  every  particular 
of  the  great  conflict.  But  his  part  in  an  evil  event  is 
merely  to  determine  its  time  and  circumstances.  A 
general  for  the  purpose  of  ultimately  destroying  the 
enemy  might  open  to  him  the  barriers  of  his  own 
territory  and  allow!  for  a  time  a  devastating  invasion.  - 
In  such  a  case  it  might  be  said  that  the  general  actually 
purposed  the  movements  of  the  enemy.  In  the  same 
sense  it  may  be  said  that  God  purposes  the  movements 
ments  of  the  Devil  in  this  world,  but  not  his  existence 
and  wickedness,  which  make  those  purposes  necessary. 

We  believe  that  the  goodness  of  God  in  the  gift  of 
redemption  can  never  be  appreciated  so  long  as  it  is 
viewed  through  the  medium  of  a  theology  which 
teaches  that  good  and  evil  spring  ultimately  from  the 
same  fountain.  The  Bible  teaches  that  the  redemption 


GENERAL  VIEW 


401 


purchased  by  the  death  of  Christ  is  an  “unspeakable 
gift.”  But  if  we  hold  the  common  view  of  the  origin 
of  evil,  we  can  not  but  see  that  the  salvation  God  gives 
is  just  the  measure  of  ruin  he  has  wrought.  No 
wonder  that  the  mass  of  mankind,  whose  lot  scarcely 
presents  a  preponderance  of  good  over  evil,  are  neither 
warm  in  their  gratitude  nor  sincere  in  their  wofship. 
They  may  fear  the  power  of  God,  but  blinded  to  his 
goodness  their  religion  can  be  no  better  than  the  ser¬ 
vility  of  sycophants  bowing  before  the  throne  of  a 
grim  tyrant. 

V.  The  Divine  Nature. 

In  the  first  chapters  of  the  Bible  we  find  clear  inti¬ 
mations  of  a  plurality  of  persons  in  the  godhead.  The 
Hebrew  word  which  is  translated  “God”  in  Genesis 
i :  i,  etc.,  is  in  the  plural  form.  The  plural  pronouns 
“us”  and  “our”  are  so  intermingled  with  the  singular 
pronouns  “he”  and  “his”  in  Genesis  i  :26,  27,  that  we 
can  see  no  propriety  in  the  language  except  on  the 
supposition  that  there  is  at  once  unity  and  plurality  in 
the  constitution  of  God.  The  singular  and  plural 
pronouns  are  intermingled  in  the  language  concerning 
the  first  man  in  the  same  manner  as  they  are  inter¬ 
mingled  in  the  language  concerning  God.  Further¬ 
more,  it  is  declared  that  God  “made  man  in  His  own 
image” ;  and  from  what  follows  this  declaration  it 
clearly  appears  that  the  word  “man”  in  this  case  in¬ 
cludes  two  persons,  male  and  female. 

In  the  New  Testament  we  have  an  account  of  a 
person  in  human  form  professing  to  be  not  the  entire 
godhead,  but  the  Son  of  God.  We  do  not  believe  that 


402 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


the  Son  was  created,  but  that  he  is  coexistent  with 
the  Father,  coordinate  with  Him  in  the  work  of  crea¬ 
tion,  and  bears  a  relation  to  Plim  like  that  which 
woman  bears  to  man. 

The  moment  we  begin  to  interrogatemature  in  rela¬ 
tion  to  her  parentage,  we  have  proof  as  broad  as  the 
universe  that  the  godhead  is  a  duality;  for  every  link 
in  the  chain  of  life  from  the  lowest  vegetable  to  the 
highest  animal  is  a  duality.  If  we  find  two  elements 
in  all  the  streams  of  life,  why  should  we  not  infer 
that  the  same  two  elements  are  in  the  Fountain? 

VI.  Creation. 

God  created  heaven  and  earth  not  out  of  nothing, 
but  out  of  substantial  though  chaotic  material  which 
existed  from  eternity.* 

VII.  The  Nature  of  Man. 

The  foregoing  theory  of  the  origin  of  evil  leads  to/ 
new  views  of  the  nature  and  extent  of  human  de¬ 
pravity.  As  the  source  of  all  evil  in  this  world  is  an 
uncreated  evil  being,  it  is  evident  that  the  ultimate 
principle  of  corruption  in  mankind  is  spiritual.  Men 
are  wicked  because  they  are  enveloped  in  the  spirit 

*  Noyes’s  dualism,  it  will  be  observed,  is  complex.  First, 
there  is  the  all-embracing  duality  of  spirit  and  matter,  which 
are  not  antagonistic,  as  in  the  Gnostic  system,  but  friendly. 
Then,  on  the  spiritual  side  there  is  the  antagonistic  duality  of 
God  and  Satan.  Possession  of  matter  is  the  object  of  their 
strife,  and  creation  is  an  invasion  of  the  material  universe. 
Next,  the  good  power  is  itself  a  duality  consisting  of  the 
Father  and  the  Son;  and  for  aught  Noyes  says  to  the  con¬ 
trary  the  evil  power  also  might  be  dual.  Finally,  the  principle 
of  dualism  runs  through  all  the  descending  series  of  life  in 
combination  with  matter  as  exhibited  in  creation. — G.  W.  N. 


GENERAL  VIEW 


403 


of  the  Devil,  and  so  are  “led  captive  at  his  willA  This 
is  true  of  all  in  their  primary  unregenerate  state. 

But  we  learn  from  Christ’s  parable  of  the  sower, 
that  there  is  an  original  difference  in  the  character  of 
men.  Some  are  depraved  not  in  their  original  spirit, 
but  by  combination  with  and  subjection  to  the  Devil. 
Others  are  depraved  not  only  by  combination  with 
and  subjection  to  the  Devil,  but  by  original  identity 
with  him.  The  distinctive  character  of  the  two  classes 
is  evinced  by  the  fact  that  the  former  have  an  ear  for 
the  word  of  God,'  while  the  latter  have  not. 

If  there  is  an  original  difference  in  the  spiritual 
nature  of  men,  how  can  they  properly  be  treated  as 
free  moral  agents?  In  order  to  answer  this  question 
we  must  define  free  moral  agency.  A  free  moral 
agent  is  a  being  who  has  power  to  act  and  knowledge 
of,  the  right  and  wrong  of  actions.  So  Paul  lays  his 
foundation.  It  is'  not  necessary  that  a  person  should 
have1"  a  good  disposition,  or  be  free  from  an  evil  one, 
in  order  to  constitute  him  a  free  moral  agent  respon¬ 
sible  for  his  actions.  If  it  were,  God  could  not  be 
regarded  as  a  free  moral  agent,  for  his  propensity  to 
righteousness  is  all-controlling  and  unchangeable. 
As  God  with  such  a  propensity  is  yet  a  praiseworthy 
free  moral  agent,  because  he  has  the  power  and  knowl¬ 
edge  requisite  to  do  evil  as  well  as  good,  so  the  Devil 
with  an  all-controlling  and  unchangeable  propensity 
to  unrighteousness  is  yet  a  free  moral  agent  worthy  of 
condemnation,  because  he  has  the  requisite  power  and 
knowledge  to  do  good  as  well  as  evil.  If  men  have 
power  to  do  wrong,  they  have  power  to  do  right; 
for  so  far  as  natural  power  is  concerned  it  is  as  easy 


404 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


to  feed  one’s  neighbor  as  to  kill  him.  And  if  men 
know  their  own  rights  and  wrongs,  they  know  the 
rights  and  wrongs  of  every  other  being;  for  the  whole 
law  of  God  is  summed  up  in  this:  “Whatsoever  ye 
would  that  others  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them.” 
Since  men  therefore  possess  the  two  essentials  of  free 
moral  agency,  their  disposition,  though  it  be  diabolical 
and  innate,  does  in  no  way  affect  their  freedom  and 
responsibility. 

The  foregoing  views  reveal  the  grounds  of  election 
and  reprobation.  “Whom  he  did  foreknow  he  also 
did  predestinate  to  be  conformed  to  the  image  of  his 
Son.”  What  did  God  foreknow  about  those  whom  he 
predestinated?  He  foreknew  them  as  the  seed  of  the 
Son  of  man,  “having  ears  to  hear”  his  word ;  and  fpr 
this  reason  he  wrote  their  names  in  the  book  of  life 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  Reprobation  too 
is  based  on  foreknowledge  of  original  character;  and 
in  this  there  is  nothing  arbitrary  or  unjust,  because 
his  decrees  of  this  kind  are  predicated  on  the  necessity 
resulting  from  the  existence  of  uncreated  evil.  What¬ 
ever  odium  attaches  to  the  fact  of  the  reprobation  of 
the  wicked  must  at  last  be  laid  upon  the  Devil,  whose 
eternal  wickedness  is  the  foundation  of  all  the  evils 
which  disfigure  the  creation  of  God.* 

*  If  reincarnation  is  possible  only  when  a  spirit  fits  a  body 
somewhat  as  a  key  fits  a  lock,  evolution  or  stirpiculture  or 
both  may  have  so  altered  the  physical,  moral,  and  intellectual 
constitution  of  mankind  as  to  make  reincarnation  of  the  wicked 
increasingly  difficult.  In  fact  the  “seed  of  the  Devil’'  may 
in  this  manner  have  been  already  bred  out  of  the  human  race. 
Denial  of  access  to  matter  brought  about  by  progressive  modi¬ 
fication  of  key  and  lock  may  well  be  the  “lake  of  fire”  in 
which,  according  to  Rev.  20:10,  the  Devil  and  his  angels  are 
to  be  forever  confined. — G.  W.  N. 


GENERAL  VIEW 


405 


VIII.  Redemption. 

\ 

(a)  The  Law. — The  recovery  of  man  from  the 
power  of  the  Devil  is  accomplished  by  Christ.  But 
mercy  is  for  the  lost;  and  as  the  mercy  of  the  gospel 
must  be  desired  and  embraced  by  the  sinner  in  order 
to  become  available,  it  is  necessary  not  only  that  men 
should  be  lost,  but  also  that  they  should  be  sensible  of 
the  fact.  The  law  effects  this  preparation  for  the 
gospel,  first  by  revealing  and  then  by  increasing  sin, 
thus  leaving  no  way  of  escape  but  through  Christ. 

(b)  The  Atonement. — Throughout  Christ’s  life  on 
earth  there  was  a  desperate  conflict  between  the  divine 
nature  on  the  one  hand  and  the  spirit  of  the  Devil  on 
the  other,  with  human  nature  for  the  battlefield.  At 
the  commencement  of  Christ’s  ministry  the  Devil  made 
a  personal  attempt  to  seduce  him  into  sin.  After  ply¬ 
ing  him  with  temptations  similar  to  those  by  which 
Adam  fell,  and  others  more  subtle  and  mighty,  with 
every  advantage  that  could  give  them  force,  the 
tempter  was  compelled  to  quit  the  field  Jaafiled  and 
dismayed.  Christ  followed  up  this  victory  by  a  pro¬ 
clamation  of  the  gospel  and  an  outpouring  of  the 
spirit  of  life.  The  seventy  disciples,  whom  he  com¬ 
missioned  To  go  abroad  through  the  land,  “returned, 
saying,  Lord,  even  the  devils  are  subject  unto  us 
through  thy  name.  And  he  said  unto  them,  I  beheld 
Satan  as  lightning  fall  from  heaven.”  In  the  final 
battle  of  the  cross  the  Devil  and  the  Son  of  God  met 
face  to  face,  the  strength  of  each  was  tried  to  the 
uttermost,  and  the  Devil  was  overcome  and  cast  out. 
Thus  Christ  became  what  the  Devil  had  been  before, 
“the  prince  of  this  world.” 


406 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


This  view  enables  us  to  understand  how  the  sins 
of  the  world  are  disposed  of.  Man  is  saved  not  be¬ 
cause  God  abrogates  the  law  or  evades  it  by  a  fiction, 
but  because  God  rightfully  imputes  the  sins,  of  which 
men  are  the  instruments,  to  the  Devil  as  their  real 
author,  and  Christ  by  a  life  of  righteousness  destroys 
the  Devil.  Thus  the  cause  of  sin  was  put  away  and 
the  leaven  of  righteousness  introduced.  God  could 
then  safely  withdraw  his  wrath  and  proclaim  forgive¬ 
ness  to  man. 


IX.  Faith. 

“Then  said  Jesus  unto  them,  Verily,  verily  I  say 
unto  you,  Except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  man, 
and  drink  his  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in  you.  Whoso 
eateth  my  flesh,  and  drinketh  my  blood,  hath  eternal 
life;  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day.  ...  As 
the  living  Father  hath  sent  me,  and  I  live  by  the 
Father;  so  he  that  eateth  me,  even  he  shall  live  by  me.” 

Christ’s  nature  while  in  this  world  was  twofold.  As 
to  the  interior  of  his  being  he  was  the  Son  of  God,  that 
existed  from  eternity  with  the  Father;  at  the  same  time 
he  had  a  material  body,  which  was  born  of  a  woman. 
To  which  of  these  parts  does  lie  refer  in  calling  him¬ 
self  the  “bread  of  life'’?  Most  clearly  the  former,  for 
he  says  expressly,  “The  bread  of  God  is  he  which 
cometh  down  from  heaven” ;  and  this  declaration  he 
repeats  subsequently  not  Jess  than  four  times. 

By  what  process  are  we  to  “eat  the  flesh”  and  “drink 
the  blood”  of  Christ?  As  it  is  not  the  material  flesh 
and  blood  that  is  to  be  received,  so  it  can  not  be  the 
material  body  that  is  to  eat  and  drink.  The  food  and 


GENERAL  VIEW 


407 


that  which  feeds  upon  it  must  be  homogeneous.  It  is 
evident  therefore  that  it  is  the  flesh  and  blood  of  our 
inner  man  that  is  to  partake  of  the  flesh  and  blood  of 
Christ.  Accordingly  the  terms  “eat”  and  “drink”  are 
repeatedly  explained  in  this  same  discourse  by  equiva¬ 
lent  terms,  which  denote  acts  of  the  inner  man.  When 
our  inner  man  conies  to  the  Son,  sees  him,  and  be¬ 
lieves  on  him,  we  do  the  thing  meant  by  the  terms 
“eating  his  flestC'  and  “drinking  his  blood.” 

In  exact  accordance  with  this  exposition  Christ  in 
the  conclusion  of  his  discourse  specifies  the  form  in 
which  his  flesh  and  blood  is  conveyed.  Since  the  thing 
received  in  the  act  of  believing  is  a  proposition,  it  fol¬ 
lows  that  Christ’s  word  is  the  vehicle  of  his  flesh  and 
blood.  And  so  he  explains  himself.  He  says :  “It  is 
the  spirit  that  quickeneth ;  the^  flesh  profiteth  nothing ; 
the  words  that  I  speak  unto  you,  they  are  spirit,  and 
they  are  life.” 

As  food  gives  its  nature  to  the  body  that  receives  it, 
so  the  spiritual  flesh  and  blood  of  Christ,  received 
through  his  word  by  faith,  communicates  its  nature 
to  the  spirit  ef  the  believer.  And  as  Christ  in  his  spir¬ 
itual  nature  is  the  ever-living  Son  of  God,  the  believer, 
being  identified  with  him,  becomes  a  son  of  God  and 
partaker  of  the  eternal  life  of  the  Father. 

X.  External  Discipline. 

Every  person  who  has  been  enlightened  bv  the  word 
of  God  finds  that  he  has  a  spiritual  nature  which  is 
superior  to  His  intellectual,  and  that  to  be  led  by  the 
spirit  is  better  than  to  lean  to  his  own  understanding. 
One  who  has  but  just  learned  this  lesson  naturally 


408 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


despises  all  the  secondary  means  of  discipline  and 
guidance,  which  he  valued  before  and  which  the  world 
rests  in.  But  after  some  experience  the  question  in 
one  way  or  another  forces  itself  upon  his  considera¬ 
tion,  whether  there  can  not  be  a  co-agency  of  his  spirit 
and  understanding,  so  that  he  can  follow  his  spiritual 
instincts  and  at  the  same  time  give  heed  to  common 
sense.  If  he  searches  the  Bible  for  an  answer,  he  will 
soon  discover  the  following  facts: 

First,  there  is  no  necessary  repugnance  between  our 
spiritual  and  intellectual  natures;  they  can  work 
peaceably  in  the  same  yoke  and  accomplish  much  more 
than  either  alone. 

Second,  persons  who  have  received  the  spirit  of 
God  may  yet  need  to  be  instructed  and  exhorted  even 
with  reference  to  the  exercise  of  their  spiritual 
gifts. 

Third,  those  who  are  led  by  the  spirit  of  God, 
though  they  can  not  come  under  law,  may  yet  come 
under  rules,  and  may  act  acceptably  under  the  conjoint 
influence  of  internal  impulses  and  external  regula¬ 
tions. 

Fourth,  spiritual  persons  can  and  should  restrain 
themselves  from  disorderly  action  and  exercise  com¬ 
mon  sense  even  under  the  impulses  of  the  spirit;  and 
those  who  say  that  they  are  compelled  by  the  spirit 
of  God  to  do  things  of  a  disorderly  character  are  in 
a  great  error. 

Fifth,  the  Primitive  Church,  though  possessing  the 
gifts  of  the  Spirit,  established  and  maintained  a  sys¬ 
tem  of  mutual  instruction,  which  proved  an  effectual 
substitute  for  the  law. 


GENERAL  VIEW 


409 


XI.  Characteristics  of  the  Spiritual  Man. 

First,  the  spiritual  man  has  a  loving  heart.  Carnal 
believers  may  have  many  of  the  external  gifts  of  the 
Spirit;  but  only  the  spiritual  have  that  loving  heart 
which  “suffereth  long,  and  is  kind,  envieth  not,  vaunt- 
eth  not  itself,  is  not  puffed  up,  doth  not  behave  itself 
unseemly,  seeketh  not  her  own,  is  not  easily  provoked, 
thinketh  no  evil;  rejoiceth  not  in  inquity,  but  rejoiceth 
in  the  truth;  beareth  all  things,  believeth  all  things, 
hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all  things;  never  faileth.” 
This  unquestionably  is  the  grand  attainment  which 
divides  the  full-born  son  of  God  from  the  “babe  in 
Christ.”  It  should  be  noticed  that  charity,  as  Paul 
describes  it,  is  distinguished  not  only  from  the  gift  of 
utterance,  revelations,  and  wonder-working  faith,  but 
even  from  that  which  is  commonly  accounted  charity, 
that  is,  benevolence  to  the  poor,  and  from  self-sacrific¬ 
ing  devotion.  Indeed  it  is  far  from  being  that  out¬ 
ward  bound,  bustling  quality  of  character  which 
usually  passes  for  religious  benevolence.  Its  elements 
are  mostly  negative.  The  idea  of  “doing  good”  is  not 
very  prominent  in  it,  but  as  Paul  says  of  it  in  another 
place  “it  worketh  no  ill.”  It  is  just  that  quality  which 
fits  a  man  to  live  in  social  contact  with  his  fellow  men 
without  giving  offense  and  without  taking  offense.  It 
implies  a  thorough  extinction  of  selfishness,  a  perfect 
appreciation  of  the  interests  of  others  and  of  the  value 
of  peace,  and  a  quiet  reliance  on  the  faithfulness  of 
eternal  love. 

Second,  the  spiritual  man  has  a  renewed  mind.  His 
intellect  is  not  only  under  the  influence  of  that  spirit 
which  “searcheth  the  deep  things  of  God,”  but  is 


410 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


assimilated  to  it  and  acts  in  unison  with  it.  Like  the 
word  of  God,  by  which  it  is  created,  it  is  “quick  and 
powerful,  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword,”  and 
all  things  are  “naked  and  opened”  to  it.  The  renewed 
mind  instead  of  being  tossed  about  by  every  wind  of 
doctrine  readily  detects  the  impostures  of  the  Devil, 
and  stands  firm  in  the  truth. 

Third,  the  spiritual  man  has  an  unquenchable  desire 
for  progress.  Paul  was  certainly  a  fit  representative 
of  the  spiritual  class.  Let  us  see  what  was  his  state 
of  mind.  He  says:  “I  count  all  things  but  loss  for 
the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ;  .  .  .  that 
I  may  know  him,  and  the  power  of  his  resurrection, 
and  the  fellowship  of  his  sufferings,  being  made  con¬ 
formable  to  his  death,  if  by  any  means  I  might  attain 
unto  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  .  .  .  Brethren,  I 
count  not  myself  to  have  apprehended,  but  this  one 
thing  I  do :  forgetting  those  things  which  are  behind, 
and  reaching  forth  unto  those  things  which  are  before, 
I  press  toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high  call¬ 
ing  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus.”  Was  there  ever  a  more 
vivid  expression  of  God-like  ambition?  The  apostle 
adds :  “Let  us  therefore,  as  many  as  be  perfect,  be  thus 
minded.” 

XII.  Our  Relation  to  the  Primitive  Church. 

The  apostles,  prophets,  and  believers,  who  were 
gathered  into  the  spiritual  world  during  the  period 
immediately  preceding  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
are  certainly  risen  from  the  dead  and  associated  with 
Christ.  This  no  one  who  believes  that  Christ  came 
the  second  time  according  to  his  promise  will  deny. 


ONEIDA  COMMUNITY  MANSION,  1878 


GENERAL  VIEW 


411 


Those  who  speak  of  Christ  as  “the  great  Head  of  the 
Church”  ought  to  remember  that  he  is  first  of  all  the 
head  of  the  Primitive  Church,  in  which  he  was  first 
revealed. 

The  invisible  Primitive  Church  is  in  'reality  what 
the  Roman  Church  assumes  to  be,  the  holy,  apostolic, 
catholic  .mother-church.  It  is  not  like  the  old  Jewish 
Church,  changeable  and  transmissive.  The  priests 
under  the  law  were  many,  “because  they  were  not  suf¬ 
fered  to  continue  by  reason  of  death.”  But  Christ, 
“because  he  continueth  ever,  hath  an  unchangeable 
priesthood.”  Though  he  died,  he  is  risen  from  the 
dead,  and  still  lives  with  entire  ability  to  wield  all 
power  in  heaven  and  on  earth.  For  the  very  same 
reason  the  priesthood  of  the  apostles  and  prophets  is 
unchangeable.  They  are  risen  with  him,  and  still  live 
fully  competent  to  share  in  the  administration  of  his 
kingdom.  Christ  gave  “the  power  of  the  keys”  to  his 
apostles,  but  they  never  gave  it  to  any  successors. 
After  eighteep  hundred  years  of  sinless  experience 
they  are  today  better  qualified  to  decide  the  destinies 
of  men  than  they  were  when  on  earth.  They  are  our 
judges; 'and  we  shall  all  find  at  last  that  there  is  no 
entrance  into  the  holy  city  but  through  the  twelve 
apostolic  gates. 

The,  Primitive  Church  is  a  political  as  well  as  eccle¬ 
siastical  organization.  "When  God  laid  its  foundations, 
he  gave  the  world  its  capital.  When  he  set  his  Son 
upon  the  throne,  he  established  a  political  nucleus, 
which  will  ultimately  gather  about  itself  in  federal 
union  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  or  dash  them  in 
pieces. 


412  JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 

XIII.  God’s  Covenant  with  Abraham. 

God’s  original  covenant  with  Abraham  contained 
the  following  promises:  to  give  him  an  innumerable 
seed;  to  give  them  the  land  of  Canaan;  to  be  a  God 
to  him  and  his  seed ;  to  bless  him  and  his  seed ;  to  bless 
in  him  all  families  of  the  earth. 

As  the  first  covenant  pertained  primarily  to  the 
Jews,  so  also  did  the  new  covenant.  Christ,  who 
came  to  establish  the  new  covenant,  said  expressly,  “I 
am  not  sent  but  unto  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of 
Israel”;  and  he  instructed  his  disciples  in  their  first 
mission  to  “go  not  into  the  way  of  the  Gentiles,”  but 
to  “go  rather  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel.” 
Up  to  the  time  of  Paul’s  conversion  there  had  been 
no  preaching  to  the  Gentiles,  and  Paul,  though  he  was 
the  apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  acted  in  all  cases  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  foregoing  instructions  of  Christ,  preaching 
first  to  the  Jews  and  turning  to  the  Gentiles  only  when 
rejected  by  the  Jews. 

It  is  evident  that  God’s  covenant  with  Abraham 
remains  still  in  force  unless  there  is  explicit  evidence 
to  the  contrary.  No  such  evidence  is  found  in  the 
Bible  or  in  the  history  of  the  Jews.  When  the  people 
of  Israel  had  greatly  provoked  the  anger  of  God  by 
their  apostasy,  the  voices  of  the  prophets  were  heard 
predicting  desolation;  yet  looking  beyond  the  period 
of  calamity  they  foretold  that  in  the  last  days  the 
scattered  house  of  Israel  should  return  and  be  built 
up;  that  Jerusalem  should  then  be  called  “the  faithful 
city” ;  that  the  Gentiles  should  “come  to  her  light,  and 
kings  to  the  brightness  of  her  rising” ;  and  that  out  of 
Zion  should  “go  forth  the  law,  and  the  word  of  the 


GENERAL  VIEW 


413 


Lord  from  Jerusalem.”  We  therefore  conclude  that 
the  Jews  are  to  be  restored  to  their  place  as  the  pecu¬ 
liar  people  of  God,  and  that  an  important  consequence 
of  their  restoration  will  be  the  subjugation  of  the 
world  to  Christ.  No  nation  would  be  so  well  quali¬ 
fied  as  the  Jews  both  on  account  of  their  long  disci¬ 
pline  and  their  wide  dispersion  to  become  the  head  of 
a  federal  theocracy. 

We  do  not  however  subscribe  to  the  theory  that 
the  conversion  of  the  Jews  is  the  next  thing  in  order. 
The  gospel  of  salvation  from  sin  requires  preparation 
on  the  part  of  those  to  whom  it  comes.  God  did  not 
bring  it  into  the  world  till  he  had  trained  a  nation  by 
a  long  course  of  moral  discipline  to  Teceive  it.  When 
the  material  which  the  legal  discipline  of  the  Jews 
and  the  civilization \of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  had 
made  ready  was  used  up,  the  work  of  the  gospel 
ceased  and  a  second  dispensation  of  law  took  its  place. 
As  we  approach  the  end  of  the  second  dispensation, 
we  may  anticipate  the  order  in  which  the  nations  will 
be  brought  into  Christ  by  observing  their  compara¬ 
tive  advancement  in  legal  morality  and  civilization. 
The  leading  Gentile  nations  are  now  clearly  in  ad¬ 
vance  of  the  Jews  in  these  prerequisites.  The  single 
circumstance  that  these  nations  receive  the  whole  of 
the  Bible  while  the  Jews  reject  the  New  Testament 
is  a  sufficient  index  of  their  superior  preparation.  The 
Jews  stand  next,  because  they  acknowledge  a  large 
portion  of  the  Bible.  The  Mohammedans  occupy  an 
intermediate  position  between  the  Jews  and  the  Pa¬ 
gans,  as  they  believe  in  one  God  and  receive  more  or 
less  of  the  Old  Testament.  Last  on  the  scale  of  sus- 


414 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


ceptibility  stands  the  whole  of  the  heathen  world. 
The  conclusion  from  this  survey  is,  that  the  best  por¬ 
tion  of  Gentile  Christendom  will  receive  the  gospel 
first,  that  the  Jews  will  then  be  brought  in  and  will 
gather  the  great  harvest  of  the  Mohammedan  and 
heathen  world. 

The  completed  church  then  will  consist  of  five  dis¬ 
tinct  departments,  the  Jewish  part  of  the  Primitive 
Church,  the  Gentile  part  of  the  Primitive  Church,  the 
Gentiles  now  farthest  advanced  in  preparation  for  the 
gospel,  the  mass  of  the  Jewish  nation,  and  the  mass 
of  Mohammedans  and  Pagans.  Conceiving  the 
church  in  the  form  of  a  tree,  the  two  Gentile  depart¬ 
ments  will  occupy  the  middle  part  of  the  trunk,  and 
the  two  Jewish  departments  the  extremities.  A  Jew¬ 
ish  root  takes  hold  on  God,  and  a  Jewish  portion  of 
the  trunk  takes  hold  on  the  mass  of  nations. 

XIV.  The  Final  Destiny  of  Man. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  points  in  relation  to 
the  last  dispensation  of  Christ  is,  that  this  world  is 
to  be  given  to  Christ.  Nothing  but  such  a  conquest 
can  fulfill  the  predictions  of  the  Bible  and  give  pro¬ 
priety  to  the  great  drama  which  will  then  be  finished. 
The  angel  swears  that  the  mystery  of  God  should  be 
finished,  “as  he  hath  declared  to  his  servants,  the 
prophets.”  What  are  the  declarations  of  God  to  the 
prophets  concerning  the  catastrophe  of  this  world’s 
history?  The  following  extracts  will  answer: 

“It  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  last  days,  that  the 
mountain  of  the  Lord’s  house  shall  be  established  in 
the  top  of  the  mountains,  and  shall  be  exalted  above 


GENERAL  VIEW 


415 


the  hills ;  and  all  nations  shall  flow  unto  it.  And  many 
people  shall  go  and  say,  Come  ye,  and  let  us  go  up 
to  the  mountain  of  the  Lord,  to  the  house  of  the  God 
of  Jacob;  and  he  will  teach  us  of  his  ways,  and  we 
will  walk  in  his  paths;  for  out  of  Zion  shall  go  forth 
the  law,  and  theVord  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem. 
And  he  shall  judge  among  the  nations,  and  shall  re¬ 
buke  many  people;  and  they  shall  beat  their  swords 
into  plowshares,  and  their  spears  into  pruninghooks ; 
nation  shall  not  lift  up  sword  against  nation,  neither 
shall  they  learn  war  any  more.” 

“And  in  the  days  of  these  kings  shall  the  God  of 
heaven  set  up  a  kingdom  which  shall  never  be  de¬ 
stroyed.  .  .  .It  shall  break  in  pieces  and  consume 
all  these  kingdoms,  and  it  shall  stand  forever.” 

The  glorious  hope,  which  fills  the  foreground  of  the 
prospect  of  those  who  wait  for  the  finishing  of  the 
mystery  of  God,  is  presented  in  this  passage  of 
Isaiah : 

“In  this  mountain  shall  the  Lord  of  hosts  make 
unto  all  people  a  feast  of  fat  things.  .  .  .  And  he 
will  destroy  in  this  mountain  the  face  of  the  covering 
cast  over  all  people,  and  the  veil  that  is  spread  over 
all  nations.  He  will  swallow  up  death  in  victory ;  and 
the  Lord  God  will  wipe  away  tears  from  off  all  faces; 
and  the  rebuke  of  his  people  shall  he  take  away  from 
off  all  the  earth;  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it.  And 
it  shall  be  said  in  that  day,  Lo,  this  is  our  God;  we 
have  waited  for  him,  and  he  will  save  us;  this  is  the 
Lord;  we  have  waited  for  him,  we  will  be  glad  and 
rejoice  in  his  salvation.” 

And  John  describing  his  vision  of  “the  holy  city, 


416 


JOHN  HUMPHREY  NOYES 


New  Jerusalem,  coming  down  from  God  out  of 
heaven”  says: 

“God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes; 
and  there  shall  be  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow,  nor 
crying,  neither  shall  there  be  any  more  pain;  for  the 
former  things  are  passed  away.” 

It  is  clear  from  the  New  Testament  descriptions, 
that  the  New  Jerusalem  is  not  a  city  to  be  hereafter 
instituted,  but  one  long  ago  established,  the  place 
into  which  the  primitive  saints  passed  either  by  death 
or  by  change  at  the  second  coming,  and  where  they 
met  the  Father,  Son,  and  holy  angels.  This  organi¬ 
zation  is  to  be  revealed  ultimately  in  this  world.  Its 
distinctive  character  when  revealed  will  not  be 
changed.  It  will  still  be  the  home  of  angels  and  just 
men  made  perfect,  entirely  exempt  from  sin  and 
death.  Yet  it  does  not  appear  that  it  will  at  once  em¬ 
brace  the  whole  population  of  the  world.  On  the 
contrary  John  represents  it  as  a  city  standing  in  the 
midst  of  the  nations,  accessible  to  them  and  shedding 
its  healing  influence  over  them,  but  not  including 
them  within  its  walls.  “The  kings  of  the  earth  do 
bring  their  glory  and  honor  into  it.  And  the  gates 
of  it  shall  not  be  shut.”  Yet  the  prophecy  immedi¬ 
ately  and  emphatically  adds,  “There  shall  in  no  wise 
enter  into  it  any  thing  that  defileth.”  But  “they  that 
do  his  commandments”  may  enter  in  through  the 
gates  into  the  city,  and  have  the  right  to  the  fruit  of 
the  tree  of  life. 


4: 


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